© 2019 by Swami Shanmuga and Amma Adi Sakthi

Ksham Meditation, by Swami Shanmuga and Amma Adi Sakthi

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO
KSHAM MEDITATION

Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi is a powerful and ever-existing

aspect of the Divine Mother. She presents Her form to us as a
Goddess with the head of a male lion and the body of a
woman. Her form and energy represent the balance between
the masculine and the feminine (Shiva-Shakti). It is a
representation of yin-yang, the balance between opposing
forces, enabling Her devotees to transcend dualities into
Ekatvam, or Oneness with their higher Self.
Pratyangira Devi is the embodiment of Dharma
(righteousness), Satya (truth) and impeccable justice. She is the
Mother of moksha (liberation), freeing Her devotees of their
karmas and from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. This
Mother takes form when there is much to be brought into
balance in the world.
Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi is within each and every being, in
all planes of existence. She exists there, waiting to be awakened
within. She is known as the Mother of the Void because She
comes from a deep place within the Divine Mother, from an
area referred to as the Void. In the Void, everything is

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unmanifest and in a potent state. The state of Void is
paradoxical because it is both powerful and powerless at the
same time. In the Void, there are no thoughts of fear, pain, loss,
want, desire, or of time and space… just the warmth of the
Mother’s love.
To raise our vibrations and tune ourselves into the energies
of Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi, we need to unlearn a lot to go
forward in a pure raw state. We can be one with the Mother in
the rawness and stillness of the Void. Pratyangira Sadhana ,
or practices of the Mother helps one realize Her and to attain
moksha. By practicing Pratyangira Sadhana regularly, one
becomes imbibed with the Mother’s unlimited energy. An
integral part of Pratyangira Sadhana is the simple yet powerful
Ksham Meditation, which allows one to transcend ordinary
levels of consciousness with ease.
There are many different methods of meditation. However,
the goal of most all meditations is the same; to make the mind
and body still and connect with the higher Self. Ksham
Meditation is a simple meditation technique that helps one
transcend normal levels of consciousness and experience the
Pratyangira Devi energies.
Our human existence (and experience) is a continuum of
bodies, a continuum of layers from the gross to the subtle.
There are five layers called koshas or bodies: Annamaya kosha
(physical body), pranamaya kosha (body of prana or life force),
manomaya kosha (mind body), vignanamaya kosha (wisdom body)
and anandamaya kosha (bliss body). Each layer is more subtle
than the preceding one. The bliss body, or anandamaya Kosha,
is one of ananda, or Divine bliss. It is way beyond happiness.
Being able to experience the bliss body is truly a Divine
experience, where one experiences one’s own Divinity. Ksham
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meditation is a means, a vehicle, to experience your bliss body.
Ksham is the beejakshara (root syllable) of Sri Maha
Pratyangira Devi and is an intricate part of all Her mantras.
Ksham means Divine Bliss.
Through a simple way of meditation using the ksham
beejakshara, one can transcend normal layers of consciousness
and experience the anandamaya kosha or bliss body. Ksham
meditation is a gift from the Divine Mother Pratyangira Devi
to all of us. Everyone can practice it irrespective of tradition,
religion, age or experience.

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 CHAPTER TWO

PRACTICE OF
KSHAM MEDITATION

Regular practice of meditation helps you become more

centered and calm and allows you to be at your best in
thought, word, and action. It gives you the ability to deal with
any situation in a composed way by not allowing clouding
emotions to interfere. Meditation reduces stress and the
illnesses that stress brings about. It will enable you to transcend
your body and mind to experience your oneness with the
universe.
The mind tends to work overspeed and overtime. It tries to
think too fast and to think about too many things at once. It
travels faster than the speed of light, jumping from the past to
the future, from memory to fantasy, from place to place. The
neural networks inside our brains are wired in a way that when
we have a thought, we involuntarily leap to related thoughts.
The mind is very fidgety and seems to want to be always in
motion. It deludes us by creating an illusion that it is trying to
address our problems and insecurities. This is not the natural
state of mind; it has become so because of its conditioning,
samskaras (impressions in the subconscious mind) , insecurities,

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and fears. The goal of meditation and other spiritual practices
is to slow down the mind, to let it focus on only one thing at a
time. Meditation is the art and science of making the mind still.
Only when the turbulent thought waves are calmed down is
one able to go beyond normal dimensions of consciousness.
During meditation, the thought waves get focused. Initially,
they are disparate and scattered all over the place. As one goes
deeper into meditation, thought waves undergo a radical shift.
They come together in a coherent energy pattern, and they all
act in unison. The frequency of the thought waves decreases,
and they become slower. As the thoughts start thinning out,
there is more gap between them. This gap is the void, a very
potent state of pure consciousness. The longer you can dwell
in the void, the more centered and aligned you are with the
universe.
As the frequency of thought waves slows and decreases,
you enter into successive states of brainwave activity called
gamma, beta, alpha, theta, and delta. The mind becomes more
and more subtle and hence more and more potent as you go
into deeper states of meditation. Eventually, your mind comes
to a standstill. You will be in full awareness and will know
when you reach this state of mind during your meditation.
Your breathing becomes shallow, and there is hardly any
movement of air through your nostrils and lungs. When you
first realize this, it may take you by surprise. At that point, you
can detach yourself from your mind and dwell in the stillness
of the mind.
Ksham meditation, also called bliss meditation is a simple yet
powerful meditation technique that can be practiced by
anyone. Ksham (pronounced “kshum”), the beejakshara of Sri
Maha Pratyangira Devi, is an articulation of Her specific energy
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vibration. It is a pure primordial sound that is associated with
powerful vibrations of divine bliss. Om is the primordial sound
of the universe. The combination of om-ksham is the mantra
that forms the basis of ksham meditation. By mentally chanting
the mantra repeatedly in harmony with your breath, you are
tuning yourself to the consciousness of Mother Pratyangira.
The mental chanting of the mantra om-ksham (or any other
mantra or method of meditation) is a guide for focusing your
mind. An analogy helps to illustrate this. Imagine yourself in a
pitch-dark maze of tunnels. You want to get out of the tunnel
system to a place of light, but you have no clue how to get there.
As you traverse the maze in the dark, at each junction, there are
multiple forks. In such a situation, it is nearly impossible to get
to where you want to go. Now imagine that as you extend your
hand, you touch a horizontal rope. If you hold onto the rope
and follow the direction it indicates, you undoubtedly will be led
to your destination. The rope is always there no matter where
you are in the tunnel system, and it always points you in the right
direction. If you let go of the rope, you would be lost. The
myriad thoughts that crop up in your mind are the equivalent of
the maze of dark tunnels, and the mantra is the equivalent of the
rope. So long as you repeat the mantra mentally, it will lead you
to a place of stillness, a place of light. When you come out of the
maze of tunnels into a place of light, you no longer need the
rope. When you come to a place of stillness in your mind, you
no longer need the mantra.
Ksham meditation is very effective in transporting one to the
realms of the void within, which is pure consciousness and
highly potent. Anyone can practice this meditation as it does
not require one to subscribe to any tradition or belief system.
To practice it, ensure that you will be undisturbed for the
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duration of your meditation. As much as possible, be in a space
or room where you are alone or in the company of others who
are meditating along with you. Collective meditation is very
effective because the thought waves of all the people come
into coherence and create a stronger energy field. Try to
eliminate or reduce ambient noise and bright lights as much as
possible. You may wish to light a lamp or candle. Sit in a
comfortable position, ideally cross-legged on the floor.
However, if that is not possible or if you find it uncomfortable,
you may sit on a chair. Keep your back straight and rest your
hands on your thighs or folded in your lap. Close your eyes and
become aware of your breath, but do not try to intentionally
change the breathing rhythm, as that will happen automatically.
Relax your body and mind. Mentally, direct your attention to
each part of your body, and auto-suggest to yourself that you
are relaxing that body part. During meditation, with eyes
closed, energy usually gets trapped between the eyebrows as we
tend to tense them. Make sure that you relax the eyebrows
from time to time. By sitting still and closing your eyes, you are
gently withdrawing the mind from your sensory and motor
organs so that there is no outer mental stimulus.
Set the intention that you want to get in touch with your
higher Self. Request your mind to let go of all thoughts and
emotions for the duration of the meditation. This is easier said
than done, but setting the intention helps. Affirm to yourself
that your true inner self is nothing but the Divine.
Heartfully, chant om three times. You can do this either
verbally or silently. Make it a long aaauuummm. Feel the
vibrations emanating from you during the chanting, and
visualize them being in sync with the ever-present om sound of
the universe.
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 Bring your attention to your breath, without trying to alter
its pattern. As you inhale, silently and mentally chant om. As
you exhale, silently and mentally chant ksham. That’s it. Om
when inhaling and ksham while exhaling. By consciously
focusing on the mantra om-ksham, you reduce the possibilities
of the mind dwelling on other thoughts. This results in the
brain waves slowing down. But soon, without you noticing,
your mind will start dwelling on something, and you may get
completely involved in that thought. That is very natural. The
moment you become aware that your mind has drifted, gently
and patiently bring it back to your inhalation with om and
exhalation with ksham. This process will repeat itself over and
over. Each time you become aware that you are involved in
some thought, gently and patiently and without involving
yourself in the thought or with the emotion associated with it,
bring back your attention back to your breath and the silent
chanting of the mantra. It is natural for random thoughts to
come up during meditation. They are nothing but the inbuilt
samskaras trying to bubble up into the conscious mind.
Remember, all thoughts are equal during meditation. You
may have a good or bad thought. If you judge between the
good and the bad, the mind deludes you into thinking that it is
all right to be involved in a virtuous thought, a thought in
which you are doing good or feeling good. Be neutral toward
every thought, since neither good nor bad thoughts are
conducive for meditation. Without any judgment, gently
redirect your attention toward your breath and the mantra. The
moment you become aware of your thought, let it go. Do not
dwell on it.
When you become aware that your mind has drifted away,
don't put yourself down or decide that you cannot focus
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because you’ve had an emotion-filled thought. Don’t get
frustrated, thinking your mind is uncontrollable or “running
away.” The frustrated mind tends to assume an all-or-nothing
attitude; observing that thoughts took over the focus despite its
efforts, the mind reasons there's not much point in continuing
the meditation practice and drops the whole thing. Be very
watchful about that. Know that when thoughts arise in
meditation, the mind is doing what it has been programmed to
do, just as your other body parts are doing what they are
supposed to do, all without your conscious intervention.
However, by bringing your awareness to the process, you are
gently intervening in your thought patterns and gradually
realigning the neurological patterns in your brain.
You will sometimes notice that you are simultaneously
chanting the mantra as well as dwelling on some thoughts, and
that is also natural. When this happens, you become aware of
the straying mind sooner than usual because your awareness is
silently increasing.
As you continue to focus on your inhalations with om and
your exhalations with ksham, your breath will naturally start to
get more shallow. Your thoughts will start thinning out. When
this happens, it will be hard to distinguish between when an
inhalation ends and an exhalation begins. At this point you can
let go of chanting om and just mentally chant ksham, ksham,
ksham slowly and repetitively.
After a while, your brain patterns will start slowing down
even further. The frequency and intensity of your thoughts
decrease, and there is more gap between successive thoughts.
This gap, or the state of no thought and no emotion, is the
state of void: a place of perfect stillness. As you approach this
place, you may not be able to articulate even the ksham syllable
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entirely. It will be as though some vague pattern is repeating,
and this is fine. Just go with the flow. At some point, even the
syllable, the ksham, will disappear, even the vague repeating
pattern will disappear. You will arrive at a place where the
mind is in a standstill position and becoming one with
Universal Mind. This is the equivalent of no longer needing the
guide rope when you come out of the maze of dark tunnels.
Feel the stillness and peace within you. Feel the bliss.
Experience the oneness with your higher Self. Your higher Self
and the Divine Mother Pratyangira are one and the same. Be in
that place for as long as you are able. Even in that place, there
will be the occasional random thought, the occasional drifting
away. That is only natural. Just observe the thought without
getting attached to it, and let it go. Gently return to your place
of stillness, taking the aid of the mantra as needed. With
regular practice of meditation, you will develop the acuity to
become aware even as a thought is in its formative stage, just
about to emanate up into your consciousness, and you will be
able to shift your awareness so that the potential thought does
not even come into being.
After dwelling in the stillness, in the void, for as long as you
can, gently come out of the meditation by bringing your
awareness back to your breath and your body. Remember your
loved ones, and send loving energy to them. Be in gratitude for
everything you are and have.
If one is not in the regular habit of meditation, there is
resistance from within to meditating. This is because the mind
feels that it is a big thing and that the practice requires a lot of
time and commitment, neither of which is true. Meditation
need not necessarily be done in a dedicated time and place,
although that helps greatly. It can be practiced anywhere and
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anytime, and in very short time periods. This is a good way of
developing the habit and breaking the resistance of the mind.
For example, when you are commuting by train, or before
settling down for work or any other activity, just focus on your
breath, with om on inhalation and ksham on exhalation. Doing
this for even a couple of minutes will naturally raise your level
of awareness and help accustom your mind to the habit of
meditation.
During turbulent times where the mind is filled with
anxiety, it is difficult to find the motivation to sit down and
meditate even though that very act will significantly help in
calming the mind. In such a situation, you may notice that if
you do sit to meditate, the mind is very disruptive, much more
than usual. At such times, when meditation seems impossible,
instead of trying to meditate directly, rope the mind in
gradually. Allow it its own space to wander around without
trying to control the thoughts or focus on the breath or a
mantra. Allow it to dwell on whatever it wants to, but do so in
awareness. Gradually reduce the area in which the mind can
roam, by restricting your thoughts to one area of your life. As
the mind starts focusing on the smaller area, begin bringing
your focus to one single subject, and let the mind dwell on that
subject as much as it wants to. This is akin to tying a wild horse
to a long rope and allowing it to gallop freely, but within a
certain radius and gradually reducing the amount of rope it has.
After a time, the mind will be able to focus better, and you can
transition progressively into meditation.

~~~~~~~~~~

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 Pratyangira Sadhana is a set of spiritual practices based
on specific Pratyangira Devi mantras and meditation
techniques that helps one realize Her, and advance towards
Moksha. It is a practice to align one’s energies and
consciousness with those of the Devi. The Sadhana
destroys one’s internal enemies and clears the way for one’s
spiritual ascension, enveloping the Sadhaka (practitioner) in
the Mother’s Bliss.
Pratyangira Sadhana is a progressive set of practices,
increasing in intensity at each stage. One starts off with
basic practices for self-purification, attains mastery over
them by practicing for a prescribed duration of time before
progressing to the next stage. Ksham meditation is an
integral part of Pratyangira Sadhana.
Pratyangira Sadhana as prescribed in ancient texts is
complicated and is not suitable for practice by everyone.
Swami Shanmuga and Amma Adi Sakthi have been guided
by the Divine Mother Herself to make this Sadhana Vidya
accessible to those who are genuinely seeking the Mother.
Through their direct experience, they have distilled and
simplified the Sadhana for contemporary times, yet
preserving the core essence and spiritual benefits.

For more information, visit www.pratyangira.org.

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