All our worhips have us reciting Mantras. The simplest one that many of us are familiar with , is OM.
Whenever a sound is uttered, the air waves around us vibrate. There is constant sound in nature. The closest to us, movements of trees, people. Everything has a sound associated.
When the ancient sages started working on Mantras, they identified the principal keys. The Harmonium and the Piano player will be familiar with this concept. The combinations of the keys in these instruments produces sound - music.
Our seers worked on identifying these 'keys'.
There are different types of mantras. Every mantra activates a particular kind of energy in a different part of the body. Without that necessary awareness, just repeating the sound only brings dullness to the mind. Any repetition of the sound always makes your mind dull. But when it is done with proper awareness, with exact understanding of what it is, a mantra could be a very powerful means.
Why only Mantras in Sanskrit? The language of Sanskrit is structured in such a way that all possible syllables can be written in this language. When we speak we tend to add the regional accent in utterance and at times even the meaning sounds different. The correct pronunciation can be a big plus.
When you utter a sound, a form is being created. There is a whole science of using sounds in a particular way so that it creates the right kind of form. We can create powerful forms by uttering sounds in certain arrangements. This is known as the Nada Yoga, the yoga of sound.
The Oscilloscope is an example. When the sound goes in as an input, the monitor shows a form, the sound wave. The mantras when tested as inputs to an oscilloscope created unique forms and different arrangements. This is what Nada Yoga stands for, and this is something that our seers were aware of.
Different sounds have different effects on human psyche. If a soft sound of wind through the trees, birds chirping or the brook bubbling bring joy, a roar or thunder can bring in fear.
Sound is powerful. This power, through the Mantras can get the mind charged to achieve the desired goal.
The power of mantra is betrayed in the roots of the Sanskrit word, MAN, meaning mind, and, TRA, meaning deliverance, or, projection. Thus, chanting the sacred sound of the mantra delivers us from our sense dependency, from our unrelenting habit of looking toward the senses for gratification; pleasures that are and that will always be, fleeting and limited–how much can you eat? Or drink? Or buy? Sense gratification never really gratifies. We are always left either unfulfilled and guilty–wishing we had never started, or else, wanting more and lamenting the loss. Chanting is a pleasure that transcends the senses, it takes us beyond the bounds of time and space (which is why we don’t have to understand the mantra). Thus it soothes in a most profound way. It soothes on a cellular level. It merges our finite identity with the infinite, and so dissolves us. It relieves us from the sights and sounds and stimulation of the material world and delivers us into a spiritual space, where the sound is God. The material needs are reduced to nothing but mind chatter, and like smoke pumped into the sky, will be scattered into the expanse. Through the sweetness of devotional surrender, mantra turns the negative into positive.
You don’t have to sing well because it’s not about singing, in the usual sense. We’re not memorizing complex lyrics, layering harmonies, and we’re not certainly not busting out powerhouse solos. It works whether it’s done alone, or in a group, as in a powerful kirtan. It works whether it’s done softly or in full voice, as long it is from the heart and with the belly. Although for enhanced effect, we can add eye-focus and a gentle hand mudra, these are simple to include and can be incorporated gradually.
Whenever a sound is uttered, the air waves around us vibrate. There is constant sound in nature. The closest to us, movements of trees, people. Everything has a sound associated.
When the ancient sages started working on Mantras, they identified the principal keys. The Harmonium and the Piano player will be familiar with this concept. The combinations of the keys in these instruments produces sound - music.
Our seers worked on identifying these 'keys'.
There are different types of mantras. Every mantra activates a particular kind of energy in a different part of the body. Without that necessary awareness, just repeating the sound only brings dullness to the mind. Any repetition of the sound always makes your mind dull. But when it is done with proper awareness, with exact understanding of what it is, a mantra could be a very powerful means.
Why only Mantras in Sanskrit? The language of Sanskrit is structured in such a way that all possible syllables can be written in this language. When we speak we tend to add the regional accent in utterance and at times even the meaning sounds different. The correct pronunciation can be a big plus.
When you utter a sound, a form is being created. There is a whole science of using sounds in a particular way so that it creates the right kind of form. We can create powerful forms by uttering sounds in certain arrangements. This is known as the Nada Yoga, the yoga of sound.
The Oscilloscope is an example. When the sound goes in as an input, the monitor shows a form, the sound wave. The mantras when tested as inputs to an oscilloscope created unique forms and different arrangements. This is what Nada Yoga stands for, and this is something that our seers were aware of.
Different sounds have different effects on human psyche. If a soft sound of wind through the trees, birds chirping or the brook bubbling bring joy, a roar or thunder can bring in fear.
Sound is powerful. This power, through the Mantras can get the mind charged to achieve the desired goal.
The power of mantra is betrayed in the roots of the Sanskrit word, MAN, meaning mind, and, TRA, meaning deliverance, or, projection. Thus, chanting the sacred sound of the mantra delivers us from our sense dependency, from our unrelenting habit of looking toward the senses for gratification; pleasures that are and that will always be, fleeting and limited–how much can you eat? Or drink? Or buy? Sense gratification never really gratifies. We are always left either unfulfilled and guilty–wishing we had never started, or else, wanting more and lamenting the loss. Chanting is a pleasure that transcends the senses, it takes us beyond the bounds of time and space (which is why we don’t have to understand the mantra). Thus it soothes in a most profound way. It soothes on a cellular level. It merges our finite identity with the infinite, and so dissolves us. It relieves us from the sights and sounds and stimulation of the material world and delivers us into a spiritual space, where the sound is God. The material needs are reduced to nothing but mind chatter, and like smoke pumped into the sky, will be scattered into the expanse. Through the sweetness of devotional surrender, mantra turns the negative into positive.
You don’t have to sing well because it’s not about singing, in the usual sense. We’re not memorizing complex lyrics, layering harmonies, and we’re not certainly not busting out powerhouse solos. It works whether it’s done alone, or in a group, as in a powerful kirtan. It works whether it’s done softly or in full voice, as long it is from the heart and with the belly. Although for enhanced effect, we can add eye-focus and a gentle hand mudra, these are simple to include and can be incorporated gradually.
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