The Science Behind Mantra Chanting
Excerpt of an Interview with Jonathan Goldman
by Vandana Mohata
1) What’s the science behind Mantra chanting?
There are a selection of various “sciences” behind mantric chanting. A few of these are the “arduous” science—physics, psycho-acoustics, and many others. A few of these are religious sciences such because the completely different yogic practices that work with sound. I write about a lot of them in HEALING SOUNDS and my different books.
On one degree, as noticed years in the past by Dr. Herbert Benson, mantric chanting helps induce the “leisure” response, inflicting discount of coronary heart beat, mind waves and respiration. On one other degree, as Dr. David Shananoff-Khalsa believes, mantric recitation allows the tongue to stimulate the acupuncture meridians contained in the mouth (notably on the roof), thus enhancing the impact. Dr. Ranjie Singe discovered that the chanting of particular mantras brought on the discharge of the hormone melatonin and is investigating the significance of this within the therapeutic course of. He additionally discovered many advantages together with shrinkage of tumors and enhanced sleep. He writes about these ends in his guide POWERFUL SELF HEALING TECHNIQUES.
It’s additionally been discovered that self created sounds resembling chanting will trigger the left and proper hemispheres of the mind to synchronize. Such chanting can even assist oxygenate the mind, cut back our coronary heart charge, blood stress and help in creating calm brainwave exercise. As well as, listening to sure chants has nice helpful results.
Dr. Alfred Tomatis utilized the sounds of Gregorian Monks to stimulate the ears, mind and nervous programs of purchasers. His work is essential with regard to the scientific and medical makes use of of sound and chant. He discovered that sure sounds which can be notably excessive in vocal harmonics will stimulate and cost the cortex of the mind and the nervous system. There have been numerous highly regarded recordings of Gregorian chanting that been launched since this analysis was made public. I do know that many different varieties of chanting from completely different traditions have very related results. These are just some of the arduous bodily phenomenon of mantric chanting which were noticed. There definitely are others, as properly.
Some imagine that the recitation of sacred mantras really causes the bodily and etheric our bodies to alter their vibrational frequency degree—turning into extra attuned, if you happen to like, with divine vitality. Thus, when one chants a mantra for an prolonged time frame to invoke, for instance some deity, the upper energies of that deity will encode upon the chanter. That is one objective for a lot mantric chanting—to develop into one and unite with the vitality of the deity that one is chanting for. If the particular person has some illness or imbalance, this imbalance can steadily be launched by having the vitality of the deity encode itself upon the particular person. This really comes from the idea of vibrational (versus allopathic) medication, which is the idea of many therapeutic modalities, together with homeopathy and acupuncture—that each one the universe together with our our bodies, is solely made from vibration—an idea, by the way, that the brand new Superstring concept of physics helps. Every thing is in a state of vibration and after we are in a pure, resonant vibration, we’re in a state of well being. But when some a part of the physique begins to vibrate at a counter frequency, the vitality turns into caught and illness units in. Subsequently, by mantric chanting, one may cause caught vitality to develop into launched, and we will return to our pure state of resonance, effecting a treatment.
I’ve, by the way, noticed this phenomenon many instances throughout workshops. We shall be reciting a mantra to invoke a selected entity—maybe Tara, Tibetan Goddess of Compassion for instance, in an effort to higher embody the vitality of compassion. Nonetheless, throughout and after the method, I’ve seen individuals with power well being issues emerge from the chanting fairly wholesome. It’s wonderful.
There are in fact, precise therapeutic mantras in addition to particular mantras to stability and align the chakras. Chakras are the energetic wheels of sunshine that transduce refined vitality into the physique. They arrive from the Hindu custom, however as famous in my guide HEALING SOUNDS, comparable vitality facilities are present in nearly all the esoteric traditions on the planet. I’ve studied the usage of sound to impact the chakras for over 40 years. Mantras are notably efficient for this objective. The standard Bija Mantras are one instance of a system for utilizing sound to activate and stability the energies related to the 7 fundamental chakras. We work with these tones in workshops and healings have been recognized to happen as a result of balancing and alignment of the chakras. Psychic and mystics from all completely different religious paths can sense, see, really feel or hear these vitality facilities. We might not but have scientific gear that may adequately detect the chakras, however that doesn’t imply they don’t exist. Nonetheless, intriguing work is being completed to develop gear to measure chakras, so maybe it’s only a matter of time earlier than the scientific and medical communities will acknowledge them, as they’re starting to acknowledge acupuncture meridians.
2) Are you able to inform us something concerning the historical past and origin of chanting and hint it to the current stage-what is the extent of consciousness of chanting & sound therapeutic in current day & age?
This is a wonderful query, however one which really requires a guide size reply to cowl all of the points inherent on this query. I’ll do my finest to aim to a brief reply. Merely put, I’ll let you know that there’s just about no custom, no tradition, which doesn’t embody chanting of some kind as a religious and well being follow. The recitation of prayers is discovered worldwide and has been with us because the daybreak of humankind. Within the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and Hebrew traditions, you’ve some kind of chanting of prayer or recitation of a Divine title. Whether or not it’s a shamanic or pagan custom, you’ll have some side of chanting that could possibly be thought of mantric chanting of their rituals and prayers. Typically these chants are used to invoke Divine entities. Different instances they’re used for therapeutic or to ask for some benevolent course of like bringing rain. With regard to current day and age, we’re seeing extra curiosity, consciousness and use of chanting for well being and wellness. A few of it’s based mostly upon the belief by 2lst century those that there really is one thing greater than pure “superstition” happening throughout chanting—that there are precise physiological modifications occurring. Our nervous system, for instance, is being affected by our personal self created sounds. And thru this many extraordinary shifts and modifications within the physique and thoughts can occur. Additionally, many individuals notice that utilizing chanting creates a method to instantly entry greater states of consciousness. The flexibility of sound to create altered consciousness is extraordinarily highly effective and vital to people who find themselves searching for extra that means out of their lives.
3) Can the ability of sound alter mobile construction and molecular structure- the DNA encoding and many others? Any documented proof? Any current scientific analysis on the above?
There is no such thing as a query that sound can alter molecular construction. Within the 1960’s, a medical physician named Hans Jenny carried out experiments that confirmed that sound was capable of really create type in varied substances resembling plastics, plastes, liquids and water. He would place these substances—powders, and many others. on a metal plate after which utilizing a crystal oscillator, vibrate these plates with sound. The assorted substances took on essentially the most natural trying shapes—they seem like microscopic organisms or underwater life. Fairly astounding. He referred to as this work Cymatics.
Masuru Emoto of Japan demonstrated that water molecules are literally affected by sound and our intention. Intention, by the way, is our ideas, our emotions—it’s the vitality behind the sounds that we create. I’ll discuss this later. Emoto discovered that clear water seemed like a snowflake—very geometric. Polluted water seems like mud. Emoto has pictures of polluted water, which at first seem like mud. After a priest has chanted over this water, it’s photographed once more. This time, the water seems like a snowflake—the sound and intentionality has restored it to its pure pristine harmonious form.
Emoto photos of water earlier than and after chanting
On a associated observe, the French acupuncturist and sound healer Fabian Maman has completed work involving Kirlian images of hemoglobin blood cells that have been uncovered to completely different sounds. Specifically, he took pictures of blood cells uncovered to an ascending chromatic scale—C, C#, D, and many others created on a xylophone. Every observe effected the cell in a different way, creating a special form and completely different Kirlian shade. Fabian’s experiments display clearly that mobile construction and vitality are affected by sound. His photos are fairly extraordinary!
4) Whereas chanting, what’s the position of intention on the human physique? I did see the impact of intention within the works of Japanese researcher Mr. Masaru Emoto on have an effect on the molecular construction of water, however we want to know the know the impact on human physique?
A few years in the past, once I was gathering data for a grasp’s thesis on the therapeutic and therapeutic properties of sound, along with specializing in the usage of sound to have an effect on the chakras, I additionally checked out the usage of sound to have an effect on completely different organs, in addition to completely different circumstances. What I discovered was that there have been many various faculties of sound therapeutic based mostly upon completely different academics and completely different traditions. These completely different faculties may use the identical mantra to resonate completely different chakras—with nice success. Or they may use completely different mantras to resonate the identical chakra. Om, for instance, may resonate the center chakra, or it may resonate the throat chakra, or the third eye or crown or no matter. It depended upon the trail and the instructor.
I bear in mind sitting at my desk being fairly confused. How may this all work? I distinctly heard a voice saying “It isn’t solely the sound that creates the impact of the sound, but in addition the intention of the particular person making the sound.” All of a sudden, every little thing made sense and was clear. I understood. Sure, the intention—the vitality behind the sound was an equal a part of the impact of the sound. This vitality of intent was carried upon the sound wave and was really was equally chargeable for the impact of the sound. It was a significant “aha” second, and I instantly wrote down the formulation “Frequency + Intent = Therapeutic.” For many individuals, this has been a kind of unified concept of sound therapeutic as a result of it is ready to convey collectively the variations in many various faculties and many various beliefs.
I additionally created the formulation, “Vocalization + Visualization = Manifestation”, which could be very related and is especially related with regard to chanting and mantras. Because of this the visualization of the chanter coupled with or mantra the sound being chanted creates the impact. For instance, In case you are chanting for a selected deity, it helps to have the ability to visualize that deity so as the invoke and embody the impact. Really, some individuals are not nice a visualizing, so if they will merely “really feel” the vitality of the mantra, it really works simply as properly. If in case you have bother visualizing Tara, however you possibly can really feel the vitality of compassion while you’re chanting the Tara mantra, it should actually assist and help the manifestation of compassion. The identical factor is true if you end up making sounds to resonate the chakras. It’s good to have the ability to direct your consideration and intention if you end up trying to resonate a selected chakra with sound. This can be a main key to working with sound—to make use of the ability of consciousness to focus our consideration and intention on what the sound is doing.
5) Is mantra chanting and sound therapeutic the subsequent frontier in science, enjoying a big position in therapeutic, eradicating the necessity for allopathic therapy?
I’d prefer to counsel that till all of us transfer into one other dimension of consciousness the place ideas immediately create actuality, there’ll all the time be some want for allopathic therapy. And coming from a household of allopathic physicians, I actually wish to honor allopathic medication. I believe that we should always understand of all vibrational medical therapies, whether or not it’s sound or no matter, as being complementary with allopathic medication. I believe that is actually vital as a result of then the completely different modalities can work collectively, versus being adversarial—an “us and them” mentality. Quite than “different” medication , let’s use the phrase “complementary” and resonate with one another. Cooperation, not competitors—I believe that’s an actual key to our continuation and evolution as a species within the upcoming years.
6) There appear to be many various college of ideas on chanting? Which is the simplest for well being and therapeutic?
I imagine that whichever system or college of chanting works for you is the very best. . Keep in mind, “Frequency plus Intent equals Therapeutic,” so if one thing resonates strongly with you, it in all probability shall be only for you. If it doesn’t really feel good or correct for you, it in all probability received’t be that efficient. Some individuals can work with a mantra containing hundred syllable —others can work solely with a mantra with one or two syllables. Maybe they merely can’t bear in mind extra syllables. No matter—but, extra will not be essentially higher. And fewer will not be essentially higher. It relies upon upon the particular person. And the time and place and want of the person. And in addition keep in mind that we’re all distinctive vibratory beings, in order that what works for one particular person might not work for one more particular person. And we’re all in a relentless state of frequency shifting, in order that one thing that will not work in the future (or week, month or 12 months), might abruptly resonate very in a different way with you at one other time. Belief your inside knowledge and steering. And imagine and perceive that sound has the power to create profound and great modifications.
I’m going to depart you with a narrative that I first heard from Dr. Randall McClellan, creator of HEALING FORCES OF MUSIC. I imagine it’s very outdated, however I prefer to credit score Dr. McClellan, who was a fantastic affect on me a few years in the past. I believe this story illustrates one thing vital about sound, and notably about mantras.
In an unique nation, there was a person who had a musical instrument that he would play all day lengthy. The instrument had many various strings, however all he would do was pluck one string—the identical string and similar observe time and again and once more. At some point his spouse mentioned to him “Expensive—you’ve this excellent instrument and also you sit and play all of it day lengthy, however all you do is hit this one string time and again and once more. The instrument has many various strings. All your mates have this similar instrument they usually play all of the completely different strings, making many various notes and creating great melodies and songs. All you do, hour after hour, day after day, is play that very same string and that very same observe time and again and once more. Why is that?” His spouse was clearly very exasperated and confused. The person checked out his spouse and gently smiled. “My expensive spouse who I like past all measure,” he mentioned, “thanks for bringing that to my consideration. And now right here is the reply. That’s as a result of they’re all nonetheless looking for their observe, whereas I’ve discovered mine.”
Might all of us discover our personal sound. And should we use this sound to help private and planetary therapeutic.
I ship Blessings of Gentle & Love via Sound to all!
