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Music Has a Special Power
There are so many different music sources that it would be impossoble to discuss all of them here. Let's begin with one that is frequently ignored....
CHANTS
Although our modern scientific knowledge was not available to the ancient shaman or medicine man, or the Hindu guru or rishi, their marvelous innate attunement to vital truth caused them to realize that chanting had a remarkable effect on the human being. As with any kind of music, there are individual preferences.
Some benefit from high speed, repetitious performance of a brief "string" of words. My personal preference is for the slower (and I believe more spiritual) chant in which tone and meaning have their opportunity to become ingrained in the consciousness. Repetition is thus less relied upon than meaning and tone.
In the Hindu tradition, there is the belief that God created the universe through use of the word OM. The Hindu also speaks of the Holy Nahd, which could be interpreted as the Divine Sound. The opening words of the Old Testament include the statement "And God said, 'let there be light...' " The Gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word." So the three philosophies, Hindu, Hebrew, and Christian, agree in a peculiar way that sound energy, coupled with consciousness, is a tremendously creative force. In each tradition, chanting for the purpose of creatively combining sound energy with purposeful
objective has played a prominent part.
The word OM, for example, on whatever note is pleasing to you, sustained for the duration of a full breath, resonates throughout your being on every level, harmonizing, healing, strengthening, or whatever you designate as the objective of that creative energy. The same is true of any other chant with which you have a personal affinity.
Dr. Alfred Tomatis researched Gregorian chants in numerous Benedictine monasteries. He discovered that they (the chants) were a source of great energy, better feeling in general and increased mental alertness. He believed that the higher frequencies in the chants were the prime cause of well-being, and that the lower frequencies drained energy already already present. Any chant, of course, is a combination of three important ingredients: Sound, Breath, and Consciousness.
Remember, regarding the spiritual science of breath, that when you chant or sing there are periods of inhalation during which your consciousness should be actively conditioning the breath (and prana) being inhaled. Thus conditioned, it reinforces the vocal portions of chant or song with additional energies. The vibratory pattern in your mind as you breathe becomes the energy pattern that fills your body.
It's often difficult to think properly of the idea that sounds or words massage every part of your being.
We customarily focus our thinking outside ourselves rather than inside. But when you consciously associate your breath with those sounds or words, you interiorize their focus. Thus the massaging energy is centered within. Breath is not only a conveyor of energy, it's also a focusing device.
