Chanting
the Holy Names
an article in Light of Consciousness Magazine
According to the ancient Vedas, sound is carried by ether and ether
pervades everything. Sound can therefore directly act on the body
and mind, thus having a beneficial or harmful effect according to
the nature of its vibrations.
When
saturated with heavy negative emotions and affirmations, sound has
a destructive power. When bathed with altruistic emanations and
real spiritual intentions, sound vibration is the supreme powerful
healer. By freeing the subconscious from the toxic influence of
pettiness, anger, resentment, fear, worries, anxiety and reductionism,
by freeing the mind from the blockages born of poisonous apprehension
and doubt, sound has the power to heal. The spiritual sound vibrations
of the Names of God restore human being's dignity. The Holy Names
release the human mind from restrictive weakness and envy. Toxic
shame, jealousy, lack of self-esteem and greed in particular are
real problems which are at the root of so many psychic conflicts
and cellular disorders.
After
more than 30 years of practice, chanting on beads, participating
to congressional kirtan, doing bhajan, recording and giving Concerts
of Holy Names around the world, I experienced everywhere more or
less the same positive effects. The sound frequencies of the Divine
Names enter the layers of the mind and replace the wrong belief
that make us mortal and limited beings by the right scheme and psychic
design, vibrant with divine potential. The resulting feeling of
independence and autonomy can hardly be described herein. It's a
feeling parallel to serenity that surpasses all the pleasures I
know. As far as I am concerned, it doesn't matter really whether
scientific circles recognize this fact or not. Anyone may check
out for him or herself these altered states of consciousness which
show that human beings are absolutely “made in the image of
God” and can therefore enjoy full independence.
Mantric
assertion of the Holy Names
A
mantra is a vibratory tool used to free the mind. In ancient Sanskrit,
“mana” means the mind and “tatra” means
liberation. Each mantra is linked by a specific correspondence to
the potentialities buried deep within our consciousness. A mantra
enables us to live and experience a psychic state that would otherwise
be extremely difficult to create.
For
the priest of ancient Egypt , to assert one's divinity was to name
it, that is “vibrating” our own divine nature through
a nominative or a nominal call. Furthermore, the Vedanta Sutra of
antique India defines the living entity as being simultaneously
qualitatively One and quantitatively different from God. We can
conclude that to name the Absolute means to name one's own divine
nature, one's own divine part. When we utter, or simply listen to
the particular vibratory energies of the divine nominatives (the
Holy Names), we link up with the Infinite and simultaneously awaken
our own divine qualities.
Does
God have a name? Experts in mysticism agree that the Absolute possesses
billions of different names. At the same time, God is materially
nameless and materially formless. God has infinite spiritual Names
and infinite spiritual Forms and is realized according to our own
God consciousness. Personal, impersonal, masculine, feminine, every
aspect is transcendentally real for the human soul. Those Names
and Forms are not an artificial imposition on the mind as psychologists
may think. His or Her names are therefore never concerned by restrictive
interferences. The Supreme Soul of the Universe is omniscient by
definition and understands all human as well as non-human languages.
The
initiation
Love,
intention, motivation and compassion matter more than the definition
of words. This is why there are no hard and fast rules in chanting
the Holy Names. This is why Christ or Krishna , or Adonaï,
or Radha (the Feminine and Compassionate Aspect of the Absolute),
the name is the same. However, if we chant “bablula bablula”
or anything created by our own phantasmagoria, nothing transcendental
will happens. The Holy Names are a sound manifestation coming from
the Spiritual Dimension. If we manufacture the sound ourselves,
we will not be able to experience any wonderful spiritual emotions
or any real change of heart.
We
must also have some discrimination between the Names of God and
the names of different demigods like Shiva, Tara, Laksmi, Saraswati
etc. If we want to get money, we may turn to mother Laksmi, and
if we want to be healthy, we may invoke the sun-god, Surya, or if
we desire some name and fame, we can turn to some other demigods.
That's all right. The results will certainly be there but it will
last only for few years. Eventually everything we asked for will
be washed away by the waves of time.
The
result of chanting the Holy Names of God is quite different. The
only effect is pure, unconditional, immortal divine love…
This is why, traditionally, the prayer of the Names is linked to
a genuine disciplic succession and is given through the process
of initiation to the disciple by a pure devotee of the Lord, man
or woman, who has no material desire whatsoever. This is not a cheap
process. We must think about it when we sing some sacred mantra
live on stage or when we record it on CD. We have to know the real
target in the secret of our heart because the particular intention
of the performer will deeply affect the listeners and in the long
run the singer will be responsible for that related influence. If
we keep some self-promoting mundane desires while chanting the Holy
Names we must realize that our chanting is offensive. Sooner or
later the severe consequences will manifest.
On
the other hand, demigods are angels and great archangels and they
are in the divine service, so we can chant their beautiful names
in order to receive help from them. They are always ready to give
us some help as long as our activities are in complete harmony with
the divine plan. These things are part of our inner and private
conversation with the Divine Mother.
A
world of transcendence
The
chanting of the Holy Names isn't a kind of ritualistic ceremony
or an act of religiosity. It's the awakening of our divine soul
in union with the Supreme Living Being. It's the song and dance
of the soul and, as we said before, there are no rigid rules to
follow to engage in this eternal pastime.
When
one is initiated into traditional Vedic mantra, for example, there
are certain rules that must be respected. One must, among other
things, respect the exact pronunciation of letters and observed
the accuracy of specific musical notes, know the length and strength
of the pronounced sound, honor the musical quality and know how
to use pauses. The posture of the chanter and the speed of the chanting
is also of capital importance, the right breathing is fundamental
etc. The chanting of traditional Vedic mantra must be correctly
applied and the precise metric form of each sound formula should
be respected so that the energy of the mantra is released. It's
impossible to transpose or translate a Vedic mantra. If some unscrupulous
singer does so, the sound structure ceases to be a mantra. Moreover,
if the mantra is somehow chanted imperfectly, the sound waves can
even bring the opposite effect of that which it's supposed to produce…
Fortunately
enough, none of these precautions are required when one takes to
the Holy Names. The Names of God may be chanted in any languages,
whispered, hummed, silently repeated in one's heart, loudly shouted
or recited in any possible fashion. The Holy Names are One with
God. The Name and the Named are not different. The Names are even
more merciful than the Named! They transcend everything and satisfy
all the secret wishes of our eternal spirit soul.
Patrick
Bernard (Prahlad das Ji)
Author
of Music as Yoga,
Mandala Publishing, San Rafael , 2004
Discography:
Atlantis Angelis
Solaris Universalis
Shamanyka
Mantra Rock Project
Amor Immortalis
Image Voyage
Mantra Mandala
Atlantis Angelis II
Sublime Relaxation
Supreme Moment
Love Divine
Sonic Feng Shui
Chakra Celebration
Communion |
