In 2018, an extraordinary article in the Scientific American on the "Sanskrit Effect" caught my attention. A neuroscientist studying MRI scans discovered, after 14 years of researching the brains of Vedic pandits, that memorizing ancient mantras increases the size of brain regions associated with cognitive function.

For decades, I have been teaching around the world that Vedic chanting is not about chanting in any way we want, nor is it about freedom of expression or creativity. Instead, it is about discovering the experience of the Rishis, the great seers of the Vedas. Now, we know that there is science behind the process that can assist us in a very worldly way, pun intended.

Traditionally, Vedic mantras were chanted for the well-being of the world and the well-being of all. Through this body of research, we have come to understand that chanting Vedic mantras in accordance with their unique rules can be beneficial. The personal benefits are even more significant than their altruist...

Shanti mantras are the perfect segue into the Vedic experience and the development of spiritual consciousness that culminates in the Upanishads. Today, having a meaningful way to pray for the peace and well-being of the world carries a sense of urgency as a result of current geopolitics and conflicts. In addition to our prayers and affirmations in our thinking language, mantras work more effectively in this context because their vibrations differ from those of everyday speech, even though mantras are themselves a form of speech, albeit not ordinary speech, but sacred speech.

The chanting of Shanti Mantras is the recitation of peace prayers before the teaching of the Upanishads, which are the loftiest teachings from the Vedas, influencing Schopenhauer and many great Western thinkers. The Upanishads are the culmination of the Vedas, which is why they are known as Vedānta: the anta, meaning "end," of the Vedas. Chronologically, the Upanishads occur at the end of the Vedic period.

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