The Power of Mantra, The Science of Sound

Yesterday, January 6, 2021, was not a good day in the history of America- the culmination of four years of narcissism, arrogance, intolerance and self-righteousness by a disgruntled employee of the people.

I made a commitment to myself a few days ago- that I would put something out there every day on this blog. I missed yesterday because I was beside myself as the events of the day unfolded. I actually went into escape mode for a while- took a drive so I could listen to the news and not be sitting in my house watching it all on the TV or computer. I needed a change of scenery. When I got back I went up to Mahesh and Mukta’s, my neighbor/friends in the other house on the property where I live, and had pizza and a glass of wine. I was going to stay up there and blow off Day 6 of the 7-day mantra practice I have been doing with Jai Uttal but somehow, after eating way too much pizza, I felt somewhat emotionally revived and decided to go back up to my house and chant. I knew it would be the best thing for me and that I would be really disappointed in myself if I missed it.

Chanting in the time of Covid… I swore I would never do webinars- now I am so grateful for them. Thank you Jai and beautiful Nubia for bringing yourselves to our living rooms!

And of course I was so grateful that I listened to my heart rather than my mind as I knew I would be. As always the chant was perfect for the day - a devotional prayer to Hanuman, the monkey-god whose heart is so big and so full that it overflows with ardent love and devotion for Lord Ram and his beloved Sita. The perfect chant when the heart is feeling wounded.

On another note which isn’t exactly a change of topic- it relates- I am fascinated by the way significant dates repeat themselves. Exactly 15 years ago yesterday, on January 6, 2006 I sustained a fairly serious head injury. I was hit in the temple on the right side of my head by a large speaker. I got a concussion but the miracle was that the flat side of the speaker hit me square in my temple. I am convinced if it had been at the slightest angle the damage would have been far worse. Anyway, that is another whole story but what I want to get to here is how nāda yoga, the yoga- or science- of sound, which Sadhguru talks about in the above video, saved me or at least got me on a faster track to recovery.

About a month and a half after the injury- I hadn’t yet started driving again and could still barely talk, had a fair amount of swelling and pain- my nāda yoga teacher Shyam Bhatnagar offered a 7-day sound meditation retreat in Fort Meyers, FL. We sat with Shyamji and chanted for several hours every day, along with doing a dietary cleanse. Shyamji is a nāda yoga master and uses the voice, mantra and tamboura. After about 3 days I started noticing distinct changes. My mind started getting clearer and there were differences in my energy level. When I arrived at the retreat I already could see considerable improvement compared to the acute stage but with the mantra and meditation practices I could distinctly sense that my nervous system was receiving benefits on a subtle yet very deep level. I also had a lot of emotional clearing during the process and became aware of the deep level of trauma that I had undergone as a result of the injury.

The healing process was long- a good year- but the improvement in the beginning with a week of mantra practice with someone who really understood the science of sound was profound. I had many other helpers during this time who I am deeply indebted to, but the mantra and purification practice with Shyamji certainly helped get the ball rolling.

The Effects of Chanting Sanskrit

I KNEW IT!!!

Back in the early 90's I studied Sanskrit with a wonderful teacher, Swami Shivananda, AKA Swami Bob to all those who knew and loved him. I studied with Swamiji consistently for about three years and when I left RI and moved to Florida continued with my own studies for quite some time. When I came up to RI for visits I would always stop in and spend a few hours with my beloved Swamiji one on one or sit in on one of his workshops if he happened to be teaching that weekend.

I strongly believed that the study and practice of chanting Sanskrit did wonderful things for my brain, particularly in the area of memory. It actually felt to me as if it were making me "smarter"- certainly helping me to think more clearly and efficiently. I had no positive proof of this but within me I was always quite certain that this was so.

In January of 2006 I sustained a severe blow to the head (my right temple) resulting in a fairly serious head injury. I was living in Florida at the time and my sound healing center had just been open for a year. A month after the injury I was invited to a retreat with another of my teachers, Shri Shyam Bhatnagar. It was very synchronistic as it happened that it was going to be in Florida, about an hour and a half from where I lived and I was in desperate need of healing. I was well enough by that time to take a chance on driving myself, which I did- the first time I had driven since the injury. I was in a very internal place as it literally hurt my brain too much to think at that point, but every day we would chant Sanskrit mantras with Shyamji. He is a Nada Yogi and his practice is solely using sound- mantra and tamboura- along with a strict Sattvic diet. Acharya Roop Verma defines Nada Yoga thusly: "Nada Yoga is an ancient science of sound vibrations. It is a path of exploring consciousness through sacred music which originated in the Vedic times. The aim of Nada Yoga is to purify and harmonize the gross and subtle bodies in alignment with their natural vibration, and to bring the individual to the highest state of awareness, the state of Yoga."

I was there for 5 days- maybe 7- I don't have memory of certain things from that time.  What I do remember though is feeling the vibrations, the frequencies, of the Sanskrit mantras working on my brain, literally healing my nervous system. I didn't realize how poorly I was still doing until I began seeing the improvement in a daily basis.

I was so excited when I ran across an article this morning in Scientific American confirming what I already was sure to be true. I have told many people over the years that chanting Sanskrit literally feeds the brain, but that information only came from my own personal experience. To me, that is always the best testimony to the efficacy of a practice but I also love seeing the scientific confirmation!

Below is a short video of Shri Shyam Bhatanagar as well as a link to the article from Scientific American. For article click here.