Tantric mantras are situated within ritual and meditation, with a focus on the mantra oṃ juṃ saḥ. The chapter compares this Tantric mantra to a Vedic mantra sharing its name and intended outcome, and provides a translation of the text encoding it. Each component of the mantra can be defined by sound, shape, and movement, showing these elements are not arbitrary. Mantras are presented as essential parts of the cosmos, existing to help people discover rather than create. Even in- and out-breaths can be understood and utilized as mantra.
A chapter from a scholarly work translates a section of the Svacchanda Tantra, an ancient Śaiva text, describing a visualized meditation practice intended to overcome time and death. The meditation involves breath control, the haṃsa mantra, and visualizing the deities Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra to achieve longevity. It further instructs practitioners to visualize the self being washed over with nectar. The chapter compares this imagery with that of the Netra Tantra, which uses ritual to address the threat of death, to provide a fuller understanding of immortality within the Śaiva canon.