Yoga of Music

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. Now, physics has recognised that all matter is composed of particles which vibrate at particular frequencies. In this light one can better understand the yogic effect of music, as it is the vibrations of specific sounds which have a resonant effect upon the chakras or subtle pranic centres of the subtle body. This effect of resonance occurs when the particular sound frequency coincides with the natural frequency of another body, causing it to vibrate.

This shows the interrelatedness of things and, on an even more subtle level, points to how all vibrations have an effect upon our consciousness. Sweet and harsh words and the soundless words of thoughts all impinge in some form or other on the individual consciousness and, depending on the level of awareness, have an effect. The power of repetition of the mantra or sound syllable is based upon this reverberating effect. Constant repetition sets up deep vibrations which strike the samskaras in the unconscious mind, and during the practice of japa yoga, hordes of long forgotten thoughts and feelings surface. The yoga practitioner can gradually eliminate these by observing them without reacting to their content. Naturally mantras composed of specific syllables will have an effect on particular chakras and it is in this connection that the importance of kirtan, communal chanting of mantras, has to be realised.

Influence of Music:

At various stages of conscious awareness, the mind is easily attracted by different waves of nada. Some waves readily induce hypnotic states, others induce mental clarity, others induce heightened awareness of various emotional states and so on. Certain vibrations of nada seem to be disagreeable at particular times of the day. Other combinations are agreeable to individuals of one nature and disagreeable to others.

These nada vibrations in Indian music are known as raga or musical notes. For example, the morning music, the Bhairavi and Bhairava ragas, appeal to a few, but not to all temperaments, likewise the midnight music of Malkos and the Durga or Jogia ragas. The evening ragas, like Bhimpalasi, are more popularly appreciated. Most boys and girls of tender age prefer Bhairavi. This shows that the human mind reacts differently to different sound waves according to many factors, including our individual psychic personality, mental and emotional characteristics, and also the time of day, the seasonal conditions, etc. For example, the monsoon season is undoubtedly the time when ragas of high and tender emotional pitch are appreciated.

According to Shiva Samhita: "There is nothing as effective as nada to merge the mind." Just reflect upon how quickly one's whole mood and outlook change in response to favourable (or unfavourable) music. Scientific experiments have revealed that plants exposed to musical notes grow more quickly, animals are more calm and yield more milk, while patients in hospital require fewer drugs and medications and their surgical wounds heal more quickly when exposed to pleasing music.

Definitely music has active elements which stabilise the consciousness and reduce mental imbalance, bringing about a cohesiveness in the individuals concerned. Musical notes have been found to influence the digestive processes. Eye power, memory and mental performance have been improved by the influence of music.

Amongst tribal cultures the calling of deities through drums and dances is a common ritual. These ceremonies utilise the beat of drums to induce a state of deep trance in which the individual expresses himself freely, unhampered by the usual neurotic inhibitions and personality blockages. In the process, great relief is gained and many psychosomatic symptoms magically disappear overnight.

All these effects were recorded in tantra shastras in a most systematic and practical way. The influences, both beneficial and detrimental, of various notes, sounds and combinations upon the physical, mental and emotional structures of man, have been recorded and utilised by the gurus and spiritual teachers to guide the evolution of their disciples, and mankind in general, even up to the present day.

Yogic Awareness in Kirtan:

Kirtan, the yogic music of India, has important effects upon our consciousness in two main ways. By focusing our attention on the singer and the rhythm and pace of the music, we become more mindful of the moment. The greater our awareness in singing, chanting, dancing and playing of music, the closer we come to the full conscious awareness. Such relaxed concentration in listening and participating, can lead to a meditative state of thoughtlessness and so bridge the gap between ordinary mind and cosmic mind. This can bring one to ecstasy and the different levels of samadhi. Secondly, because kirtan stimulates different areas of the brain by the vibrational effect on the chakras, its effects continue to influence your consciousness for a longer period of time.

The five long vowels in Sanskrit, a, i, u, e, o, stimulate the five main chakras. These long vowels are frequently used in kirtan and in the ragas of Indian music. By chanting the vowel slowly with total awareness, one may notice the centre which the vibrations affect. This is also achieved by playing or singing the seven musical notes or sapta swaras. Ascending the scale, sa, re, ga, ma, pa, da, ni, sa (in English do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti, do) respectively affects mooladhara, swadhisthana, manipura, anahata, vishuddhi, ajna and sahasrara centres. In the descending scale these are activated in reverse order.

Probing the Unconscious:

This gives an important clue as to how and why music can be an intense emotional experience. The chakras are connected to different centres in the brain, and when activated, they awaken these dormant areas. The lower centres - mooladhara, swadhisthana and manipura, are mainly concerned with the instincts of survival, pleasure and power, and represent the lower aspect of man's evolution. Anahata chakra marks the transcendence of this lower mind and its associated states of emotional flux, so that love becomes compassion and is experienced in a detached, impersonal way.

The higher centres of vishuddhi, ajna, bindu and sahasrara are also experienced by the aspirant along the spiritual path, but first the release of samskaras or archetypes (the karmic dross; the long forgotten banal episodes of life) from the lower centres has to be witnessed and let go of. Full enlightenment is realised when all these areas are charged with energy and man's full artistic, creative capacities and even godlike qualities emerge. Therefore, music has an important purifying and illumining influence upon our consciousness, acting beneath the superficial emotions of the egoic self.

This is why kirtan has such a calming and soothing effect upon the individual and can be considered healing music. If practised for some time, it can lead to wondrous states of elation, euphoria, joy and happiness. Singing kirtan is a valuable means of self-expression; it acts as an emotional release for pent up feelings, and encourages a positive rather than negative attitude. To a troubled mind, it is a soothing balm, as the act of singing brings you into the present, and the past loses its hold. The closer you come to the universal flow, the greater the degree of energy you feel. This is the reason why music was regarded as a valuable therapeutic tool in all ancient cultures.

The Rhythm of Life:

Often primitive, native music is considered to be an incoherent jumble of sound. However, it is actually composed of an infinite variety of rhythms on a given musical phrase which occurs again and again. The apparent monotony is part of a complex cycle made up of elements that time has shown can nourish the entire body like the circulation of the blood.

This cyclical quality of music symbolises the actual life cycle of man: birth, disease, old age and death. Among the Fali of northern Cameroon, two drums beaten with the bare hands at the moment of death symbolise the everlastingness of man who is forever born anew, even if the body decays and dies. One of the drums represents the male principle, the other the female principle, and the concert of their sounds gives life to a new being as death ushers out the old.

All deep and meaningful music is important for enhancing spiritual consciousness and this is yoga. To be effective, all instrumental music, chanting and dancing must be performed flawlessly and with as much awareness as possible. Intellect plays no part in the performance. The intensity and power of the sound dictates directly to the body of the dancer the movements to be performed to heal the sick or summon the natural elements. Meditative states attained through music leave one feeling peaceful yet alert and relaxed, while the vibrational effects echo throughout the psychic body.

Physiological Rhythms:

To understand the relationship of rhythm and music to the more primitive ego structure, it is necessary to consider the relationship between physiology and music. Rhythm may be viewed as the language of physiology. Body functions such as heartbeat, brainwaves, peristaltic rhythms, hormonal secretion cycles, etc. are characterised by various rhythms. The entire nervous system communicates at a preconscious level by means of a series of neural impulses interpreted according to their rhythm. Neurophysiological experiments have shown clearly that the fundamental neuronal processes are occurring in the brain and vegetative nervous system as the underlying pattern of our consciousness. Upon these fundamental physiological rhythms the more complex communications of language and the psychological ego are built up, much as a complex piece of music is based upon recurring and underlying beats and melodies.

Each neuron has an inherent conduction velocity, amplitude and reaction time which are constant for that neuron - like a fundamental. They combine to make nerve bundles, which combine to form ganglia on the way to the brain. As the relationship becomes more complex, we begin to appreciate that consciousness exists in our nervous system in the form of a constant, ongoing, electrical activity, which is essentially rhythmic and musical in nature.

Because the central nervous system is bilaterally symmetrical, the impulses of a nerve group can be readily translated into a mathematical matrix, which can be translated directly into a complex of musical sounds simply by equating frequencies. Thus the rhythms of our life become a raga or symphony, playing eternally within our own nervous system. The basic measure or phenomenon of our continuing consciousness is thus musical. This continuous dance of consciousness is explained in the tantras as Lord Shiva's dance- Tandava Nritya. This is a peculiar sort of dancing pose in which Shiva has a damaru (small drum) in his hand. The faster he dances, the rhythm of the drum speeds up accordingly just as the level of activity in the autonomic nervous system constantly mirrors our state of consciousness and our level of psychological activity.

Bharatakalpalata Maitjari has expressed this concept of rhythm very nicely. It states: "Rhythm should be taken into consideration as time, and that time is known as Shiva. Nada (sound) has come from Shiva. Nada is the creation of the mind and mind makes time. Thus rhythm is itself a form of time."

Restructuring the Personality:

The more primitive the psychic level, the more it is in tune with the bodily events that rule over it. Thus music becomes a means of communication with the physiologic processes which dominate the primitive ego. This is also why music and mantra are perhaps the easiest and simplest means of arousing the kundalini shakti, the divine, unconscious, spiritual power in man.

Destructuring of the psychological ego, and surrender to the deeper, more fundamental physiological rhythms of life or the 'primitive ego' is the first step in bringing to birth a greater man and a greater personality, just as an old and decrepit ruin must first be demolished before a new building can be created on the same site.

Music is thus a more fundamental language, enabling communication at a more primitive physiological level of rhythm which puts the neurotic personality back into contact with his own roots, the source of his lost energy. At the same time, music enables a rapport to be established with psychotic patients which is not attainable with conventional language, and can help to develop more external, socially and interpersonally oriented patterns of behaviour. Thus the healing potential of kirtan and music therapy is profound. It balances the lopsided developments of the human personality which correspond to the two extremes of neurosis and psychosis, and is the most direct means of awakening kundalini in the sushumna nadi.

The healing journey of the schizophrenic or autistic child will involve a trend towards more complex music, aimed at precipitating a reintegration of the lost or dormant ego and socially oriented personality. However, for the neurotic person, cut off from his or her own roots and source of power, regression and dissolution of psychological complexes and anxieties by wholehearted participation in kirtan is one of the best ways to attain physical, mental and spiritual balance.

Music therapy is one of the newly emerging forms of psychological treatment. As yet it remains in its infancy, for modern psychology has been concerned solely with the gross, vibrational (ahata) dimension of sound. Psychologists as a whole remain unaware of the range of experience and effects of the subtle dimension of sound, and its manipulation by mantra.

The best understanding of mantra and music will emerge from physiological experiments to determine the effects of various sounds and music forms upon the bodily systems of untrained subjects, under controlled conditions. Mantra science and its external expression as music, is the means by which science can bridge the gap between the language of physiology and the phenomenon of consciousness.

Music in Raja Yoga:

If we try to analyse the source of music, we can understand that it will lead us to the world of 'eternal reality'. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (5:98) it is said that, "Just as fire burning in a piece of wood subsides along with the wood, so also the mind directed to nada is absorbed along with it" That is why music was recognised as a spiritual path even in ancient times. The study of music is one of the 'upasanas' for spiritual growth of the mind. When we look at the lives of great musicians in any century we can see clearly how they reached the peak of fulfilment by being absorbed in the sound of music.

The process of learning and studying music moulds the mind in such a way that it becomes completely in tune with, and a part of the music, just as other meditation practices prepare and concentrate the mind so that it becomes in tune with the universe. Sound is man's inner nature. If we concentrate on this, the consciousness can expand from its normal field of perception.

All music lovers have experienced this at some time. When we sing or hear a beautiful song, we can totally forget our worldly problems and circumstances, and even our own selves. Awareness of time and space is lost and we can touch the eternal ocean of happiness and reality. But nobody thinks much about this experience later.

Analyse this experience in relation to the practices of meditation and you will find there is basically no difference. Meditation requires some formal point of focus for the mind like a flower, the form of the guru or ishta devata. Similarly, music is the tool which enables the mind to reach higher states of consciousness. Ultimately we must come to the source and reality of the symbol. It is here that the identity of music and meditation is experienced

Music in Tantra Yoga:

In the ancient times tantras for the expansion of consciousness were written and taught, concerning every aspect of nature. Ancient texts describe 14,000 different tantras. Unfortunately most are no longer available to us. Their subjects included the whole range of spiritual, psychic and material knowledge including the science of departed souls, palmistry, mathematics, music and healing.

The spiritual aspect of music is mentioned continuously in the tantras. Tantra states that the sound spectrum is capable of expansion in two ways. One is anahata (unstruck sound) and the other is ahata (struck sound). Anahata nada are those particular kind of sounds which are connected with the subtle planes of being. This anahata nada can be heard in the meditation practice known as nadanusandhana.

Anahata nada is transformed into ahata nada as it passes through the vocal cords in the voice box in the larynx. This is the origin of sound which can be perceived by our sense of hearing. Only sounds caused by vibrations between the frequencies of 30 and 30,000 Hertz (cycles per second) can be heard by human ears, although the ears of some other species, including dogs, remain sensitive to slightly higher frequencies. Sounds of less than 30 Hz and more than 30,000 Hz are inaudible to humans, though they are not necessarily without effect.

In tantra, the science of using gross and subtle sounds to acquire control over worldly and spiritual advancement is termed mantra shastra. Mantra is the production and awareness of sounds, both gross and subtle, in particular combinations. Mantra is the vehicle of tantric power. Without mantra, tantra does not exist.

According to the tantras, one end of the sound spectrum can be traced to its source as the first fundamental outpouring or expression of God's creativity. Out of this sound (parashakti) the whole of creation is forever unfolding and returning. In the Upanishads it is recognised as Om while in the Bible it is considered to be the word underlying the creation as the first verse of Genesis states: "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God." In nadanusandhana, sound is traced to this original blissful source.

At the other end of the sound spectrum, is the form of ahata nada which has been perfectly structured in Indian classical music. Alteration of consciousness through music was one of the major practices in the tantric rituals of bygone days. Indian classical music is considered to have originated from Shiva. According to the Puranas, Shiva made five ragas from his five mouths, and Parvati (Shakti) made the sixth raga from her mouth. Later on, Parvati made 36 raginis. Yamalashtaka Tantra, Shakya Tantra and Uddishbodyam all mention the yoga of music and the power of music in influencing the state of consciousness of both musicians and listeners alike. The development of Indian classical music has occurred directly as a majestic outgrowth or unfoldment of the principles and experiences of nada yoga based on the fundamental, transcendental sound.

In another tantric text, Uddisha Mahamantrodaya, some unknown types of drums are mentioned. These include talnilayam, patan, thuthuka, angulisphota, bhrammaka, mithkkatha, madadhala, etc. It is possible that these refer not to forgotten musical instruments, but to the physiological rhythms and internal melodies which accompany the various states of consciousness experienced in different chakras and centres of consciousness in the awakened nervous system during the psychological and emotional catharsis which occurs in the full experience of kirtan.