We begin this new school year with the chanting of Shanti Mantras, which can be understood as the recitation of peace prayers characteristic of the Upanishads. We aim to recite these mantras regularly for the sake of world peace and the well-being of humanity. 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 due to the rapidly developing geopolitics in theaters that echo the buildup of the First and Second World Wars. 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 Up...