Keeping The Company of Sound

We live in the universe of continuous vibration, yet how many of us are aware of our own underlying energy or even the value in understanding it. With the rise of the global energy crisis, societies are slowly turning their attention to an awareness of the following questions:  What is energy? What is the value of energy? How do I relate with it?

The rise of continuous natural disasters all over the globe, as well as global warming, makes it clear that our world demands a more conscious conversation with the subject of energy.  Since times immemorial, the yoginis studied prana, energy.  They studied prana means that they followed it to its subtlest wave.  Coming in contact with the essence of energy they come to experience what is supporting that energy, i.e. the true Self beyond form and thought.

Vibration Quiets The Mind:

The Sanskrit language connects us to energy. By nature, mantras themselves are highly resonant. The Sanskrit alphabet is predominantly formed from sounds that are produced by rubbing the vocal chords together. This sound friction from the rubbing of the vocal chords together eventually turns into a kind of sound heat, and this friction and heat produce a lasting echo that follows these sounds. It is precisely this outer continuance or echo, after the sound is expressed, which lends Sanskrit the moniker of being called the language of vibration.  What that means is that Sanskrit makes us aware of vibration. And if we sit with pulsation, we gain access to what underlies that, which is silence and the eternal.

The Company You Keep:

So how does it work? Well, you say a sound and then sit and feel how much energy gets conjured. With mantras the effect is your skin pulsates, there is a deeper connection with what you hear, your mind becomes clearer and quieter and you feel tranquil and refreshed at the same time. 

Since Sanskrit mantras emanate from Source, they can link us with Source.  In effect, they model the process for us, all that we have to do is pay attention and follow along for the ride. When we hang out with the lasting continuance of energy found in the mantras, we get to feel ourselves as lasting and eternal.  Moreover, all mantras evolve and dissolve from or into the OM sound.  So immersion in resonant sounds creates a link between our every day self, our mind, and the sound of OM, nadam and God. 

Lord Patanjali recognizes the importance of chanting OM and connecting with nadam, when he says in Chapter 1, Sutra 27 & 28: Tasya Vacakah Pranavah (1.27), and Taj Japas Tad Artha- Bhavanam (1.28). These sutras say that OM is the name of God as well as nadam or vibration.

These sutras suggest the aspirant first focus attention on the outer expression of OM, as this will lead her eventually to the inner vibrational OM. The inner OM is the inner experience of God. If all mantras emanate from OM then they have the potential, through the chanting of them, to resolve us back to the divine. What happens is that by chanting the manifest sound, the student organically and naturally connects with eternal energy and the divine.

What Is Beyond Thought?:

Yogis advise that you go beyond thought to feel what you are. Many students try this practice and eventually find themselves asking, “What is beyond thought?”  Guru ji, Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, would reply, “You, real You, is beyond thought.” He was referring to the limitless Self. We all want access to the real us. But how do we get there?

Through Sanskrit chanting we have the opportunity to cultivate connection with pure vibration and that takes us beyond the level of the thinking mind. It works like this, we focus on the mantra, that sound merges into pulsation, pulsation draws us inward and once we are in eventually we feel inner stillness where the mind in silent. The experience of inner silence is a primary focus for the yogini. In such silent connection, a yogini realizes her Self.  Therefore, Sanskrit chanting is an intentional yogic practice that develops freedom from thoughts. This doesn’t mean we won’t ever go to work, see our family and friends, use language in a common every day sense or think again. No, of course we will. It does however mean that through Sanskrit and the awakening of inner nadam, we have the opportunity to explore what we are beyond thought. And beyond thought is where we are.


By Manorama

Copyright Luminous Shabda/Sanskrit Studies, Manorama 2012

Maya: The Force of Love

One day after a very full week, I found myself feeling tired and so as a relaxing treat, I decided to go to the local nail salon and get a manicure. I’m kind of a regular there and always look forward to the experience. It’s a place where I frequently indulge in mini pampering sessions.  Having my hands dipped in warm soapy lavender water, cuticles pushed back, nails shaped round, hands massaged with a hot towel placed around them and of course the finale: nails polished a dazzling shade. The whole experience is healing and loads of fun for me.

That day I was determined to go, so I walked to the corner and popped into the nearby nail salon.  All of the Asian women who work there and who provide the manicure treatments speak very little English and wear nametags. The odd thing is they always have American names typed out on their tags. I notice this anomaly each time I go, sometimes it makes me smile and other times I find it slightly sad, and I wonder what their real names are. In any event, I notice it. 

That day the manicure woman I was paired with also wore a nametag, but her name didn’t read: Jennifer, Mary or Jessica. Instead her tag read, Maya. Intrigued, I smiled. It was out of place there. I thought to my self, why is she wearing her own name in a place where everyone else wore a pseudonym? I was curious and thought to myself, good for her.  We settled into the chairs at her station and she placed one of my hands in the warm soapy lavender water, Ah, heaven. 

She held my other hand up with my palm facing down and as I relaxed into hers she surveyed.  I decided to inquire further, “Where are you from?” She replied dis-interestedly, as she looked down at the old polish left on my nails, her accent thick, “Nepal.”  Her single word reply fell flat and offered no entry. I smiled again, deliberately not taking her cue, and said, “Wow Nepal, it must be beautiful there…” The up tilt of my tone indicated I was asking a kind of question like, ‘isn’t it?’ She looked up at me from her intent scrutiny of my fading polish, “Yes… very beautiful,” she replied, looking down again.  “Is Maya your real name?” I asked.  She looked up meeting my eyes, “Yes I am Maya.” Her body language suggested she felt a kind of pride about it. I said, “What does Maya mean?” She paused for a moment and said, “It means the force of love.”  Then her face took on a slightly shy smile and she said, “That is what my parents told me.”

I had never heard that before, but on that day, amidst endless nail polish colors and pink hues, I was transported to a village in Nepal where I learned a deeper layer to the meaning of Maya. … ‘Force of love,’ it lingered on my field.  I sat there my hands in warm soapy lavender water contemplating the gift of the teaching, as the pop music played in the background and fashion magazines lay strewn on the nearby table. I realized that everything in manifestation exists as a play. When we experience life in such a manner then we feel Maya as a gift from God, as the force of love.

 By Manorama

Copyright 2012 Luminous Shabda/Sanskrit Studies & Manorama