Devotion is to be devoted to. Find out what it is like in your listening meditation to become devoted to the listening. To place your breath as a bouquet of flowers upon its altar. To lay all your concepts and cleverness down at its feet. Devotion is necessary for absorption, for without giving oneself totally one remains a separate entity who is considering, who is practicing, who is going or getting somewhere.
Drift into the open-ended ambience of a drone, submerge in the endless flow of the sound of a stream, or disappear into the subtle nuances of static. In this way, what might typically be perceived as noise becomes an invitation to hear in a new way and opens a doorway to the sacred and profound.
Every sound echoed, every song evoked, every word spoken, all arise from the timeless ocean of silence. When all is said and done, it is only silence that speaks, only silence that has the last word. This is why I say silence is the master's mantra. One can get caught up in all sorts of words, flights of fancy, special hymns, and incantations. True power lies in the silence.
Chanting brings joy because it evokes in us the carefree attitude only a child knows. There's no shame or regret about the past, no anxiety or fear of the future. It creates an openness and vulnerability to feel, to be seen, embodying a sort of courageous, oblivious attitude of innocence.
Singing is cleaning us from the inside out. It is like a nice soapy shower that we apply to clean all those hard-to-reach places, to brush away some of the cobwebs and shed light in the dark corners.
Music is an invisible landscape, a hidden map that brings so much meaning with every little discovery of its body. If you put human beings anywhere, after a little while they will start to make music; melodies will find them, rhythms will knock on their doors.
Selected poems on sound and silence from my next book of poetry, Two Mirrors, coming soon!
Sound Ceremony extends an invitation into silence, encouraging us to listen more deeply and let that listening guide us from the superficial to the profound, uncovering the truth that there has never been any distance between existence and essence. To hear that sweet sound of who we are, and who we have always been, whispering in every moment, calling us home.
The concept of sound healing is as old as the hills, yet it still manages to intrigue and surprise the modern mind. If we trace the roots back to ancient civilizations, we realize that sound therapy is not a new-age concoction but a time-tested tradition.
In today's fast-paced world, it can feel like a luxury to have moments of peace and tranquility. There's a growing trend in the healing world that claims to transport you to a peaceful ocean of self-discovery: the sound bath. We'll go into the details of sound baths and explain what they are, and the health, physical, and spiritual benefits they may provide to you in your life.
Sound healing is utilizing the power of sound vibrations to encourage relaxation, lower stress levels, and assist the body's natural healing processes. Sound healing therapy takes a holistic approach to healing and well-being with a foundational idea that all matter in the cosmos, including human bodies, is composed of energy vibrating at various frequencies. There may be problems with one's physical, emotional, or mental health when there is an imbalance or disruption in certain vibrational frequencies.
Wondering about tuning in 432? It's important to be informed about the facts behind the claims and to be cautious and discerning when it comes to fads, claims and sales pitches from new-age ‘snake-oil’ ventures, but at the same time, it's fine to choose whatever tuning one wishes and enjoy the music as they prefer, without feeling that one is less natural or less correct than the other.
The 5 Listenings is a simple method that emphasises the importance of set, setting and safety for the client and practitioner to be able to ‘drop in’, harmonise and find trust in their environment before and during sound sessions and ceremonial endeavours.
“Always use your discernment, critical thinking and a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to grandiose claims about what sound can do or what a “sound healer” can do.”
“I believe Sound as a modality, offering and practice is for everyone and for everybody. It can be non-sectarian, non-dogmatic and open for all people of all beliefs, faiths, colours, creeds and socio-economic status. Therefore, to do Sound Work justice we must learn not to segregate and exclude because of our own beliefs, ideas and opinions.”
“Remember the common verb for the act of music is to play. Don’t take things too personal, have fun, practice often and always be a student.”
“Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.”
“In the yoga text Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the breath is compared to a wild animal. Just as elephants, lions and tigers can be controlled with steady and prolonged training, the yogi also brings the breath under his control with constant practice.”
“These swirling vortexes of life force along the sushumna each represent an aspect of consciousness. The seven essential levels provide an inner mapping for our spiritual journey and form a system that invites us to claim the full spectrum of our human existence.”
“The role of mantra is to protect the mind from itself. It is both the tool to protect and simultaneously liberate us from ourselves, and therefore the vehicle that delivers us to the Divine.”
“The word Nāda or Nad refers to sound or tone in a similar sense it also means current, stream, river or flow. Therefore Nāda is the flow of sound, the constant current, the sacred sound stream; a river of sound.”
Be it the tranquil hum of a tuning fork or the soothing murmurs of a therapeutic mantra, sound healing is gradually harmonizing its way into contemporary therapeutic practices.