27 August 2001, 01:11am IST
Rashme Sehgal.
My earliest memories of chanting was hearing a temple priest mumble through a few prayers at a krishna temple located opposite my house. the shlokas made little sense. neither my parents nor the priest made any attempt to explain what these words meant. the prasad --a few patasas or sweetened bundi --was all that energised me and my band of friends into visiting the temple. bundled into a loreto hostel at the age of six, i found myself going to church with the latin liturgy forming the backdrop of the prayers. these two contrary styles of praying remained the backdrop of my life right up to my adolescent days. home meant pictures of rama, sita, guru nanak and a krishna playing the flute. school meant walking past rows of paintings of a smiling mother mary and a sad-looking jesus christ, a crown of thorns placed over his bleeding head. none of these images created an indelible impression primarily because no one bothered to integrate the teachings of our religious leaders into our daily lives. it was only much later in life that a chance visit to the gurudev siddha peeth (gsp) ashram in ganeshpuri led me to understand the importance of prayer and the need to make it the centrifugal focus of one's life. this came about because i got an opportunity to interact with swamis and ashramites who are making a constant effort to place the different religious traditions in their proper perspective, and also to help explain how these can be incorporated to suit an individual's life. of all the healing sounds that we can chant, the most potent are the great mantras , the names of god. mantra means that which protects and redeems the one who holds it in his or her awareness. mantras have a transforming power. they purify us and lift us to a higher state of awareness. chanting has a significant effect on our bodies and minds. the reason for this is pretty clear. like everything in this universe, our body is made up of vibrating energy. even though it appears to be dense, every cell of the human body has its own frequency. whenever there's movement, whenever there's vibration, there is sound. the body's inclination is to be in harmony with itself. all the different parts of the body, all its cells, want to move in unison, the way a school of fish or a flock of birds do, always moving but never bumping into each other. when this natural rhythm and harmony is disrupted in the body, that is when disease and disorder arises. however, when the vibrations of the chant sound within our bodies, the cells themselves respond; they resonate with the pure vibration of the mantras so that harmony can be restored. it has the same effect on the mind. chanting calms and clears the mind and helps to rejuvenate it. every word uttered during a chant leaves a subtle impression on the mind, as do other sounds and words that we listen to and absorb during the day. but it is chanting the pure syllables of the names of god that breaks through this mass of varied thoughts and impressions and opens us to a higher awareness, a clearer perception of ourselves and the world. yogic scholars point out that chanting purifies all seven constituents of the body ^ bone, blood, marrow, skin, fat, semen and muscles. swami chivilasanda, the head of gsp, popularly known as gurumayi, has said: ``when you chant god's name, it actually moves through your whole being ^ purifying you, bestowing grace, and making you sacred.'' and chanting bathes us in its purifying sounds, it opens our hearts. chanting forms one of the pivotal practices of siddha yoga meditation along with seva . gurumayi believes that chanting must help to achieve a sense of inner calm and joy. it is keeping this in mind that regular music courses are conducted in the ashram. these sessions teach group singing and voice control. chants are set to traditional ragas and ashramites are encouraged to learn both indian and western instruments. often during a chant, there have been occasions when as many as 10 different instruments are being played. these include a harmonium, synthesiser, flute, zephyr, harp and tabla . happiness lies in inner purity. baba muktanand, gurumayi's guru , used to stress that chanting has the power to annihilate the effects of even the most stubborn faults. it dissolves every ounce of bitterness and malice. from time immemorial the purpose of chanting and music has been to praise god and to invoke his presence so that we can feel uplifted. chanting does exactly that.
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