20 Surprising Benefits of Saying Bahala Na

20 Surprising Benefits of Saying Bahala Na

By Perla Daly

A mantra is a vehicle or tool that transports your mind to God.

The word mantra is a composite of two parts, man which means mind, and tra which means vehicle. Thus mantra is literally translated as “a vehicle to transport the mind.”

For a few years now, I’ve been excited about the potential of bahala na as a mantra that awakens, aligns and raises up our level in the game of life. I’ve been contemplating the deeper meanings of bahala na, since 2002. That’s when I learned the meanings of the baybayin symbols of bahala na from my friend Panday Banale. From there I started some contemplative and meditative practices Bahala Na Meditations, alongside it.

In 1997, I started yoga for stress relief. Surprisingly, it was through yoga philosophy class, I came to appreciate my Philippine heritage even more, on top of my childhood appreciation for our varied indigenous Philippine culture.

Upon hearing the Philippine words mukha and guru in yoga classes my interest in our pre-colonial history was deepened. Through the years, I continued to research the Philippine’s pre-colonial connections to Vedic culture.

In 2004, I trained to become a yoga teacher. I did the 200-hr yoga teacher training to deepen my knowledge of yoga philosophy and my sadhana or practice. Fast forward… while in a small class of soon-to-be-yoga-teachers I learned about the yoga practices called niyamas. I was thrilled to hear about ishvara pranidhana, a devotion of surrendering to the Divine. Ishvara is Sanskrit for highest, pure divinity. Pranidhana means to surrender, devote or dedicate. Ishvara pranidhana is the practice of surrendering the ego and devoting oneself to a divine higher power.

This was an aha moment for me!  It was at this very moment that the saying of bahala na clearly showed itself as an act of surrendering the ego to the divine! Because I knew how to say bahala na and understood its meaning, I quickly slipped into knowing the underlying diwa or idea within yoga practice of ishvara pranidhana.  To me, at that moment, sitting on the floor — Bahala na meant ishvara pranidhana. And ishvara pranidhana meant bahala na. Being Filipino suddenly was an even more marvelous thing for me. I felt that our pre-colonial heritage was rich in treasure waiting for us to find many gems of wisdom.

I was proud and grateful that my Filipino-ness gave me immediate understanding and appreciation of this niyama. I was deepening my yoga understanding amidst Westerners who had come to love the South Asian tradition of yoga, and appreciated its philosophy too. In that class I felt quite full of love and appreciation, that I was Filipino and that one of our worldviews was represented, and maybe even rooted, in yoga philosophy.

Isn’t that amazing to think that devoting our lives to the divine is the fastest way to enlightenment? We Filipinos can be so good at that. Many of us are born with a loving devotion to divinity.

With a new awareness I began to say bahala na as a practice of ishvara pranidhana, surrendering ego to divine purpose. I saw it as a personal devotion to the divine source, and a way of aligning my soul purpose with divine will. The spiritual practice of my mother and lola of giving everything up to God, was made more beautiful and powerful to me.

And yet, there was something even more here, and I was determined to find out by way contemplation.  So I started the exercise of the Bahala Na Meditations. I’ve been meditating and contemplating on Bahala Na spiritual meaning for almost 15 years.

So here now is the good stuff I’d like to share with you:

 20 powerful benefits you will get from saying bahala na as a mantra:

1. Become closer to God.
2. Surrender yourself to the divine beloved
3. Release fear that holds you back
4. Express a courage even though you don’t know everything.
5. Let go of your ego’s need to control outcomes and the stress that comes from it
6. Release negative karma that arises from your ego.
7. Free yourself from worry, anxiety, self-doubt
8. Ease the competitive mind
9. Find comfort in knowing that you’re in the care of a Higher Power
10. Open yourself up to whatever is coming your way
11. Overcome fear of whatever it was that you have to go through
12. Trust your actions will unfold something in the cosmos that is going to end up towards some higher good
13. Request for Divine guidance
14. Surrender your life to God so you can be used as an instrument of divine will
15. Realize that separation from God is an illusion or maya
16. Realize sacred interconnection or pakikipagkapwa (Filipino)
17. Align yourself, your thoughts, will and actions, to the harmony and balance of the Universe
18. Do God’s work and balance light and dark
19. Transform your personal purpose to soul purpose that is, aligned with divine purpose
20. Empower your journey towards the state of yoga, the awakened, divine consciousness, enlightenment or Samadhi while still on the earthly plane

AND here’s a bonus—two more on the Law of Attraction!!

1. Manifest your dreams
2. Enable yourself as co-creator through your own creativity and works

Babaylan Mandala, Patina and Gold.

As an artist and Filipino, I believe that the Babaylan Mandalas call to Filipinos to seek and fulfill their highest selves. With this same love and devotion, I believe there’s power in saying Bahala Na as a sacred phrase that calls up the well-spring of your inner resources that have been there all along.

Now’s the time to access your inner gold, more than ever. In this time. In this age.

If you’re curious about hearing chanting, meditations, and old contemplations you can visit BahalaNaMeditations.com.

……………………………………………………

PERLA DALY

Life Coach, volunteer, writer, artist, and publisher of pinay.com, bagongpinay.org and newfilipina.com and founder of Bahala na Meditations – www.bhln.org, Perla Daly’s advocacies lie in Filipina empowerment and promoting Filipino heritage.  Like many expats, Perla is a global citizen, but one with a special interest in preserving Filipino traditions by keeping them alive, and letting them grow.  In this issue, she teaches us the positive value of saying “Bahala Na” as a mantra yielding to the divine source.