Chanting

For me, listening to music has always been an intensely personal and joyous experience. My musical tastes have changed and spanned many genres over the years, but I was always attracted to sound that affected me in a certain way; that captured the existential longing that was always present regardless of a roomful of friends or the presence of a loved one. Now I realize that what I was always seeking was the call back to the Divine through the power of love, which as I discovered, is very bound up in the power of sound; specifically, the sound of the human voice chanting the names of God in Sanskrit either on my own or in a group. 

But this was not a straightforward journey. Through discouragement in childhood, I believed that I could not sing even though a part of me wanted to desperately. When introduced to chanting Aum during a few yoga classes, it felt rather 'safe' as it was not really singing, rather a combination of speaking and singing. Who knew that this simple word would have the profound effect of opening my heart from the inside out? 

In Vedic Cosmology, Aum is at the very root of creation, the primordial sound. Sounding Aum brings us back in touch with the part of ourselves which is closest to our creator. Chanting Aum alone is a powerful spiritual practice, but for me, one chanting experience led to another as I learned to sound the bija or seed mantra for each chakra. You know you are chanting the seed mantra in the right pitch when you can feel an echoing vibration in the corresponding chakra. (From Muladhara to Sahasrara they are:  Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, So Ham, Aum, and Ham Sah or Ah).

As I felt the openings available using these simple sounds, I became interested in Sanskrit mantras for specific uses. I have a personal mantra, but there are many 'public' mantras such as the Maha Mrtyunjaya and Sri Gayatri which are found in the Rig Veda. Anyone can learn these with a little effort! Simply selecting one of the many names of God available in the Hindu pantheon to use as a mantra is also a very powerful practice. 

One may be thinking, why is it important to chant in Sanskrit? Can’t I just chant the names of God or a positive affirmation in my language? The answer is, absolutely yes, of course!  However, while chanting in any language has its own effects depending on the intention behind the words, chanting in Sanskrit has the special power of working on many levels whether or not the full understanding of the words is present in the chanter. Why is this? First and foremost, Sanskrit is a sacred language handed down from the Rishis or ancient sages who codified the Vedas. Of all the ancient languages, Sanskrit is the only one to have maintained its structure and vocabulary completely intact even though it is demonstrably the world's oldest known written language. Each letter, or akshara, vibrates in tune with the petals surrounding each chakra finding its echo within the human body. 

Another quality of the language is that in any word, the aksharas retain their sound and their individual meanings as well.  (For example, the word "guru" consisting of "gu" and "ru" stands for a teacher who dispels darkness (ignorance) of the mind. ("Gu" means darkness and "ru" means the act of removal). In Sanskrit, no sound is lost or subjugated to another sound. You may be familiar with Aum Namah Shivaya, ostensibly a chant honoring Shiva. The wonder of these mantras is their multiple levels of interpretation as the syllables “na” “ma” “shi” “va” “ya” are the seed sounds for the five elements, earth, water, fire, air and ether.

In my experience, chanting Sanskrit mantras with little understanding but a lot of sincerity will eventually bring a deeper perception of the meaning, whether it is in the form of an explanatory book coming to your attention or simply a knowing at the level of the heart. A little effort in correct pronunciation and consistency is rewarded a thousand-fold in bringing your consciousness into closer intimacy with the Divine. Existential longing is answered with a surging of the heart and an increased ability to love and to feel love! Like mine, your singing voice may never be completely in tune, but its use at the service of love will sound sweet and clear those who can truly hear. 

Reading Recommendations:

Ferrand, Thomas Ashley.  Healing Mantras.  Using Sound Affirmations for Personal Power, Creativity, and Healing.  New York:  Ballantine Wellspring,1999.

Goldman, Jonathan.  Healing Sounds.  The Power of Harmonics.  Healing Arts Press, 2002.

Music Recommendations:

Goldman, Jonathan.  Chakra Chants, Ultimate Om.  Etherean.

Uttal, Jai.  Kirtan! The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant.  Sounds True.

Shankar, Ravi.  Chants of India.