Science of Knowledge & Wisdom

It is time for the power of music to be reinstated as an aid to healing and regeneration. With a little imagination music could be used to ease the tensions accumulated during a hard day at work, soothe a headache, lift depressed emotions and even stimulate enthusiasm and inspiration. Though we experience the effects of music and sound throughout our whole waking lives, we have not developed a modern science of sound. Once we become aware of the role of sound and music in our lives and their effects on our consciousness, we can manipulate them to produce desired effects. This has practical application at home, work and in hospitals. Nada yoga, kirtan and mantra, when woven into the total yogic framework, are a useful and powerful basis for the science of music therapy. Sound travels in the form of wave motions, transmitting energy and vibrating the medium it travels in. It is this transfer of energy which can be utilized in therapy. To gain an understanding of the...

Nada yoga, such as mantra, kirtan and raga, are sensorial phenomena that can be tools for transformation, enabling us to transcend mental, physical and spiritual suffering. The modern mind often forgets to turn within, to listen inside, to find our own wisdom. We habitually seek external stimuli to satisfy us, and music is one simple, charismatic method to turn our attention within and unfold the experience of fulfilment and inner peace. To determine the mystical nature of music and how it transforms and leads us to the source and origin of sound, the concepts of vibration, prana, mantra, kirtan and raga. Most of us are familiar with the phrase 'music calms the savage beast' which we know is true for cobras, monkeys, elephants, lions etc., but the savage beast can also be analogous for the mind. Paramahamsa Satyananda's commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras explains this cause of suffering. Our lives follow the mind and its senses. The chittavrittis are our habitu...

Music is close to man's soul. It is a language of feeling which echoes the heartbeat. This has been intuitively recognized particularly in African, North and South American, Asian and Indian cultures where people are more aware of the effect which different varieties of music have on the consciousness in a deeper physiological and psychological sense. The rishis of India transcribed the ancient art of mantra and music in the Sama Veda. They too realised that certain sounds could heal as well as have a tranquillising effect on the mind. This gave rise to the science of mantra from which developed the melodies known as raga and raginis as well as the devotional chanting of kirtan. All these developed into forms of nada yoga and became positive aids on the path to self-realization. The Vibrating Universe: Scientifically speaking, music is purely wave motions of a particular wavelength within which confined particles vibrate and transfer energy to their neighbours. No...