Nāda yoga: Let sound be thy medicine

On Sunday, we held a Kirtan here at Vraie Nature Yoga in Chelsea. We sang five yoga mantras, and then chanted OM together 108 times. It was a special hour that stands out for me as I look back on my week. 

As I introduced the mantras, I offered a short translation and explanation of the Sanskrit words. But I have to admit, my explanations – as I listened to myself speaking – felt incomplete. Reflecting on this sense of incompleteness, I felt I should write… 

Words are a poor substitute for truth. My explanations – any explanations – offer you words, and these words hopefully point you towards truth, but they are not truth itself. Truth itself lies in direct experience. Chant a mantra with intention and concentration, and then notice your experience, notice the result. What do you feel? What is happening/has happened within and around you? Keep practicing with dedication, patience and faith, and keep noticing your experience. Your experience is the truth. Sometimes thinking about the explanations can distract us from observing our experiences. 

Words are for the mind. And yes, we can nourish and elevate the mind with beautiful ideas and wise words. But at some point we need to let these ideas and words go; we need to transcend the mind. This is the meaning of the Sanskrit word mantra: manas means mind, and tra is from the Sanskrit word meaning to cross over, as in transport, transcend. So we use the mind (the contemplation of spiritual knowledge, the repetition of yogic mantras) in order to transcend the mind. And in that place beyond mind, beyond words, we can begin to experience Truth, Love, Peace. The ancient yogis call this place beyond mind the True Self (Ātman); some call it God (Brahman).

This is what makes yoga special. (Here, I’m talking about yoga in its traditional form, as a broad practice that includes postures, meditation, self inquiry, chanting, etc.) Though yoga is rooted in the idea of God, and the yogic mantras often include Sanskrit names for God, yoga does not ask to believe in anything. Yoga is not religion; it does not tell us what to believe or whom to worship. Rather, it asks us to take these words and ideas in order to move beyond them. The mantra is like a rope thrown to us by the ancient sages and saints; the mantra, the rope, is meant to pull us across the stormy waters of life, safely to shore. The shore is a place beyond words, beyond names, beyond concepts.

Nāda yoga is the yoga of sound: the intentional use of sound energy in the form of mantras and other sound vibrations (singing bowls, gongs, etc.) to heal the body, mind and heart. When we practice nāda yoga, we do not even have to know the meaning of the words; we simply focus on the sound and its resonance in the body. The mantras are like medicine: powerful formulae of healing ingredients/sounds. You don’t need to understand your medicine; you just take it, and it heals you. Same with the mantras. 

This reminds me of a story I read recently about the ancient Indian sage Nārada. This particular day, Nārada was accosted by a highwayman who demanded that the sage give him his money. Of course, Nārada didn’t have any, and they ended up talking instead. One thing led to another, and eventually Nārada instructed the highwayman to practice the mantra Rāma Rāma (one of the divine names). This didn’t make any sense to the highwayman – he couldn’t relate to or even remember these words! So Nārada told him to repeat the word “tree,” which in Sanskrit is marā. So the highwayman sat down under a tree, and repeated over and over again the words “tree-tree-tree”… marā-marā-marā… the same sounds as Rāma-Rāma-Rāma. He became so absorbed in his meditation that he sat there for many years, until a giant anthill formed around him and covered his body. One day, someone disturbed the anthill, and the man emerged from his meditation a saint. The highwayman’s name was Vālmīki; he would later receive the divine vision of Lord Rāma’s life and record it in the epic story Rāmāyana. 

To understand with the mind is one thing. To practice and to experience is another. Next time we have kirtan, I will focus more on the latter and distract us less with translations and explanations… Onward and upward! Stay tuned for our next kirtan dates. 

For more reading on nāda yoga, click here: http://upliftconnect.com/the-power-of-nada-yoga/