"You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart. You live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.” - Kahlil Gibran
“God has been everlastingly working in Silence, unobserved, unheard, except by those who experience His Infinite Silence.” - Meher Baba
Sacred Sound
In the beginning was sound. After all, God had to SAY: "Let there be Light". Sound is the all pervading primary mechanism of creation.
The science of sound is ancient, and for humans a good place to begin is with the language of Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a natural language, that is, it is an energy based language rather than a meaning based language. The sounds have meaning in and of themselves; they're not arbitrary derivations like almost all the rest of our planet's human languages have become.
Sanskrit mantras only have an approximate, language based translation. The only true definition is the experience that chanting the mantra creates in the individual who chants it. Pronouncing a mantra creates a particular physical vibration in the form of sound. This sound produces an actual effect in the physical body and in the subtle bodies. The effects of the energy then come to be recognized within the body as the meaning, but not in the shallower way our language has meaning.
Seed sound mantras don’t even have direct translations; rather, they are their own meanings. For example: Chanting dum (pronounced like a clipped 'doom') exorcises and protects one from external negative influences; the sound kreem, over time, destroys negative ego qualities; the seed sound shreem creates abundance in alignment with the intentions, in the life of whomever chants it.
Other than the Crown, the other six chakras each have their own seed sounds and from the bottom, up, they are: lam (Root - earth), vam (Sacrum - water), ram (Solar Plexus - fire), yam (heart - air), ham (Throat - ether), om (Brow - mind). Om is the seed sound that serves as the prefix for most generally chanted mantras.Chanting Sanskrit mantras resonate the petals of one's chakras and affect positive change in a systematic way. Combined with attention and intention, these sounds can be a very powerful tool. Chanting them eventually quiets the mind - subconscious waves of thought that exist throughour the body give way and become absorbed and stilled due to the power of the mantra; the circulation of life energy (prana) in the body is energized; karma is lessened - that which is written can be unwritten.
Two ways to productively experiment with any particular mantra: 1) Using a mala of 108 beads to count, for 40 days consecutively, chant the mantra 108 times in the morning and 108 times at night in the same peaceful, increasingly positively energized location; and/or 2) Without the use of a mala, commit to chanting the mantra for 40 days in a row as much as possible as you go about your day - out loud when you can; silently when you cannot.
Sanskrit mantra is not about religion; rather, it is about spiritual energy that transcends religion and is common to the human condition. Some important mantras are:
First and foremost, the Gâyatrî mantra:
om bhur bhuva svaha tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dhi yo yonah prachodayat
One translation can be: "Oh, Glorious God, we meditate upon Your supreme eternal splendor; your radiant divine Light; Your adorable Sun of spiritual consciousness - Creator of All, may You awaken our intuition, destroy our sins & sorrows, and guide us on our path!"
Truth is, the Gâyatrî mantra tunes all of our chakras. It is the primary mantra for spiritual enlightenment for both Hindus and Buddhists and many of us on more eclectic spiritual paths.
Here is our in house version; here is a very joyful version performed by Anuradha & Kavita Paudwal
Another mantra of spiritual liberation, which can be chanted to bring a divine soul into your family:
om namah bhagavate vasudeva ya
The Gate mantra prepares the mind to receive enlightenment; in one breath:
gate gate paragate parasamgate e bodhi swaha
"Gone beyond; beyond the beyond; even beyond the beyond the beyond"
Mul mantra:
ek ong kaar sat nam karta purkh nirbhao nirvair akal moort ajuni sai bhang gur Prasad jap aad sach jugaad sach hai bhee sach nanak hose bhee sach
One of Snatam Kaur's most sublime gifts to the world. Another. And another.
om namah shivaya
"I salute Shiva; I bow before the consciousness of the universe"
To work on one's negative, self-sabotaging qualities:
om kreem kali kai ye namah ha
"Oh Kali, come & destroy the negative parts of myself, so that I am purity itself."
To invoke Durga, the divine protectress aspect of Kali:
om dum durga ye namah ha
With the intent of solving a problem, with no harm to come to anyone, to combat evil influences in our environment:
om kshraum narashimhaya namaha
To invoke non-specific divine help:
om shree rama sharanam namah
"I take shelter in Rama."
om shree krishna ya namah ha
"Embrace me with Krisha's divine Love."
To attract divine, human love:
om shree krishna parama prema rupaya namah ha
To attract abundance:
om shreem mahalaxmi ye swaha [if past first Saturn return]
om shreem mahalaxmi ye namahha [if before one's first Saturn return at around 29 years]
For scholars, scientists, philosophers, mystery persuers, Brahma rishis - everyone seeking to understand the sublime truths of the universe:
sat chid akom brahma
"Truth is realized that we (It, I) are One, without second."
Taraka mantra; for the divine Self within to have positive impact upon the world:
om shree rama jai rama jaya jaya rama
It is said that one's last thought is very significant in regards to whatever comes next. Gandhi is recorded on film chanting this mantra at the moment of his death.
Dai Dangen Great Invocation by Masaru Emoto:
uchu no mugen no chikara ga korikotte makoto no daiwa no miyoga narinatta
"The infinite power of the universe has been crystallized to create an era of great truth and harmony"
In house sample.
Additional Links: Temple of Sacred Sound; Ancient Solfeggio Frequencies; Sound Healing; Rosenberg: Vibrational Awakening; Source Vibrations; Om Yoga; Hazrat Inayat Khan: Mysticism of Sound & Music; Sacred Sites, Sacred Sounds; Vibrational Awakening - a sound healing anthology; Emotional Sound Techniques Manual; Sound Made Visible: Cymascope; MMV; Mantras: Shree Ganesh Vandana Mantra; Gayatri & Maha Mrityunjaya Mantras; P.S.S. Acharya: Eternity of Sound & Science of Mantras; Mantras & Healing Sounds; Thomas Ashley-Farrand (Namadeva): Sanskrit Mantras & Spiritual Power; Nada Yoga: Yogi Hari; Swami Satyananda Saraswati; Shanti Shivani - Sound Yoga trailer; Jonathan Goldman: 9 Insights on Sound Healing; Sound Healing: Wave of Love