Shiva mantras? Ardhanareeshwara mantra?

[Raghu29]

Namaste everyone,

I will be posting some of the Shiva mantras that I learnt from the Sharada Tilaka tantra,
Please add/correct if you know anymore
1)Panchakshari - NAMAHSHIVAYA
2)Shashtakshara- OM NAMAH SHIVAYA
3)ASHTAKSHARA- HREEM OM NAMAH SHIVAYA HREEM
4)ASHTAKSHARA - OM HREEM HAUM NAMAH SHIVAYA
5)SHIVA PRASADA MANTRA -HAUM
6)DASHAKSHARA RUDRA - OM NAMO BHAGAVATE RUDRAYA
7)TVARITA RUDRA-OM YO RUDROGNYAU YOPSUYA OSHADHEESHU YO RUDRO VISHVAABHUVANAAVIVESHA TASMAI RUDRAAYA NAMOSTU

8)DAKSHINAMURTHY-OM NAMO BHAGAVATE DAKSHINAMURTAYE MAHYAM MEDHAAM PRAYACCHA SWAHA

9)MRITYUNJAYA EKAKSHARA- HAUM
10)MRITYUNJAYA TRYAKSHARA - OM JOOM SAH
11)ANYA MRITYUNJAYA-HAUM JOOM SAH

12)DHARMARAJA MANTRA -OM KROM HREEM AAM VAIM VAITAVASTAAYA DHARMARAAJAAYA BHAKTAANUGRAHA KRUTE NAMAH

13)SADAASHIVA- HREEM OM HRAUM SHAM NAMO BHAGAVATE SADAASHIVAAYA

14)MAHAAKALA -HOOM HOOM MAHAAKAALA PRASEEDA PRASEEDA HREEM HREEM SWAHA
15)LAGHU PASHUPATASTRA -OM SHLEEM PASHUM HUM PHAT
16)SUBRAHMANYA MANTRA- VACHADBHUVE NAMAH/ OM VAM VAHNAYE NAMAH/ KSHRAUM

17)MANJUGHOSHA- HREEM OR HREEM SHREEM KLEEM OR A RA VA CHA LA DHEEH

18)MARTANDA BHAIRAVA - THREEM HRYAUUM THREEM

19)NEELA KANTHAH - PROM NREEM THAH

20)TUMBURU SHIVA - KSHMRYOOM

21) ARDHANAREESHWARA - RKSHMRYAUM???????


Now does anyone know the right pronunciation of Ardhanareeshawara mantra??
It is also called CHINTAMANI mantra. Some say it is just KSHMRYAUM Some say it is RKSHMRYAUM some say it is RAM KSHAM MAM RAM YAM AUM
It is one of the rare Ekakshara mantras and the Dhyana is of Uma and Maheshwara carring a trident, red lotus, an open skull and a noose. It is very protective and is said to cure all graha doshas/ krityas of others and also open the heart chakra very fast and opens the flow of Lords mercy.

Please spread the knowlege as Lord Shiva deserves to be known by every entity in the universe. Without Him liberation will be impossible.


Thanks
Raghu

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

For one's kind consideration.

Some say there are 70 million mantra-s; This is called out in the mālinīvijayottara tantra (1.18). Later this same book calls out that Śiva has appointed 35 million mantras for use. Others say each word of the veda is a mantra ( which is true when one understands the word in full) . In any case there are many more mantras available then one individual may make use of.

Yet I call your attention to one insight , the first aphorism of the Śivasūtra-s , 2nd chapter very first verse says:

चित्तं मन्त्रः॥१
Cittaṁ mantraḥ||1

this very terse verse says (suggests the following),
the mind (of someone who is devoted to the inquiry into the Highest Reality by using a mantra) (cittam) is the mantra (mantraḥ).

So, the real 'mantra-s' are not mere words or sounds. They are the mind of the person who is completely absorbed in mantra repetition.
That is, these sound forms culture the mind to the status of man+tra ( and tra is rooted in trai) and the ability for the absorption of
SELF.

Now for those with a brain cramp on this matter, let's add a bit more. This is for one that may have or had the direct experience of SELF, Being, perfect silence, turiya and the like,

Another supporting view found in the sarvajñānottara ( of which I do not have a full copy)....
उच्चार्यमाणा ये मन्त्रा न मन्त्रांश्चापि तान्विदुः।
मोहिता देवगन्धर्वा मिथ्याज्ञानेन गर्विताः॥
uccāryamāṇā ye mantrā na mantrāṁścāpi tānviduḥ|
mohitā devagandharvā mithyājñānena garvitāḥ||

(Those) are not (na) mantra-s (mantrāḥ) which (ye) are pronounced (uccāryamāṇāḥ). Due to the illusory (mithyā) knowledge (jñānena), even (ca ápi) the deluded (mohitāḥ) and proud (garvitāḥ) gods (deva) and celestial musicians (gandharvāḥ) consider (viduḥ) those (tān) to be mantra-s (mantrān).Here's the deal on this:
Mantra is the final 'subject', some say Śiva, the Knower . It cannot be reduced to a mere object, something perceived by the senses or mind, but the Knower Himself. This takes some time to settle in. The settling comes with one's direct experience of it. It is 'as if' the mantra is a vehicle.

iti śivaṁ

[Raghu29]

Namaste Yajvan,
Whatever you have said might be true for living liberated souls. Dont you think normal jeevas need a "vehicle"to help them reach the state of Shivoham? I very much agree that unity with the Lord is the ultimate destination. But what about the means to reach there?

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté raghu29,

First let me say I am delighted you asked this question… Why so? Because it allows more knowledge to come out.
Let me offer you and the astute HDF reader the following for your kind consideration.

According to ksemaraja-ji, the commentator of the śiva-sūtra-vimarśinī, from which the verses were lifted comes in 3 sections or niḥṣyanda-s.
They are sāmbhavopāya, śāktopaya, and āṇavopāya. And once again according to kṣemarāja-ji , (the main śiṣya of abjinavagupata), the 3 sections just mentioned of the śiva sūtra-s align accordingly to unfolding of individual consciousness to Unity/Universal Consciousness.
Now one must take pause in this as the implications are paramount to answer your question thoroughly.

As you have written:
Whatever you have said might be true for living liberated souls. Dont you think normal jeevas need a "vehicle"to help them reach the state of Shivoham?

The 3 means or 3 upāya-s align by sections; the highest level comes first, sāmbhavopāya, followed by 2nd and 3rd levels śāktopaya, and āṇavopāya. These approaches are to assist/guide the aspirant to go from limited or bound consciousness to unbounded consciousness, some call God or Unity Consciousness. If one liberated, then none of these methods are required, there is nothing more to do. So, this in part answers a portion of your question. 'Liberated souls' are in no need of books, or of me, or any techniques.

Let's still go a bit further.

Isn’t this interesting... the highest level comes first. We are use to starting at the ‘ground floor’ and working our way up, to build up, increase in
spiritual acumen and experience. Yet according to abjinavagupata-ji, he suggests the aspirant should always try for the highest first. How can this highest 1st be comprehended or considered if one is not knowledgeable of it? Hence our śastra-s play their role.

Now what does that mean, trying the highest first? It suggests a person can be ripe, ready for the re-recognition of SELF and is very ripe. Just one word, just one insight and he/she falls into SELF-realization. It only took a nudge. This is chapter 1, sāmbhavopāya, for these aspirants.

Chapter 2 is the 2nd level – where some additional insights and awareness is being groomed. It is where the verse I quoted resides:

चित्तं मन्त्रः॥१
Cittaṁ mantraḥ||1
the mind (of someone who is devoted to the inquiry into the Highest Reality by using a mantra) (cittam) is the mantra (mantraḥ).
It is the śāktopaya or methods (upāya) of śākti that are then discussed and applied. How many are there? There are multiple
approaches called out within the 112 upāya-s found in the vijñānabhairavakārikā-s.

So we think of a person that aligns to chapter 1 – I mentioned they are ‘very ripe’. Svāmī lakṣman-jū says it slightly differently ( I mention
him often as he was a great friend of my teacher). He says the aspirant for chapter one is like dried straw. Just one touch of the flame and
there is ignition, there is flame. The aspirant of chapter two is like charcoal – some heating time is needed before it glows and burns. The
aspirant of chapter three is more like wet hay. It needs time to dry, it needs to be ‘worked’ a bit, to prepare it.
Yet in each case each chapter compliments the other, starting with the principle of the ‘highest first’.

So, the mantra-s that you have mentioned, all noble mantra-s are aligned to chapter 3. It is supporting those aspirants that
develop/unfold via āṇavopāya ( āṇava upāya-s). Here is where we find the ‘standard’ approaches that most know of for one’s spiritual
practices. The ‘supports’ that are used: breath, mantra, postures, various forms of meditation, all that. These are all well-and-good and proper
to embrace.

But how does one know where they are at? In my humble , it's one’s resolve, one-pointedness to come to know their own Being.
What level of intent ( devotion) to this? Is one a window shopper -or- is this person highly focused, suggesting time, patience and
persistence to one's development?

Now you mention the following:

Don’t you think normal jeevas need a "vehicle" to help them reach the state of Shivoham?
Please note that what I say is not to offend. ‘Normal’ is not what most people are. We have come to think that one’s present condition
is normal and when one is possessed of the Self, of Being, of knowing one is śiva that is the unusual condition, the extra-ordinary
( ~extraordinary~) condition.
My teacher was quite clear on this and I see it now every where. Our condition is no means ‘normal’. I can point out the ways of the world,
how people treat people, where people confuse passion for love, all that, but I will not take one though this at all.

What is the one litmus paper test that points to an abnormal condition? It is where humans, the aspirant, think they are the doer’s.
I just won a metal, I am going ( here and there), I am happy, sad, hurt, lost, small, fat, big, late; I am a teacher I am a butcher,
I am ( ____ fill in the blank). People confuse what they do with who they are... this is the first clue that something is remiss.

iti śivaṁ