Nāda Yoga
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Nāda yoga (नादयोग) is an ancient Indian metaphysical system. It is equally a philosophical system, a medicine, and a form of
yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...
. The system's theoretical and practical aspects are based on the premise that the entire cosmos and all that exists in the cosmos, including human beings, consists of vibrations, called nāda. This concept holds that it is the energy of vibrations that make up the particles and matter which form the building blocks of the cosmos. Nāda yoga is also a reverential way to approach and respond to vibrations. In this context, silent vibrations of the self (anahata), sound ndmusic (ahata) carry a spiritual weight more meaningful, respectively, than what sensory properties normally provide. Silent vibrations of the self (anahata) and sound and music (ahata) are considered to play a potential medium/intermediary role to achieve a deeper unity with both the outer and inner cosmos. Nāda yoga's use of vibrations and resonances are also used to pursue palliative effects on various problematic psychological and spiritual conditions. It is also employed to raise the level of awareness of the postulated energy centers called
chakra A chakra (; ; ) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The concept of the chakra arose in Hinduism. B ...
. Music has been used by some Indian saints as an important and powerful tool in the quest for the achievement of
nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
; notable names to be mentioned here include Kanakadasa, Thyagaraja, Kabir, Meerabai, Namdeo, Purandaradasa and Tukaram.


Description

The Nāda yoga system divides music into two categories: silent vibrations of the self (internal music), ''anahata'', and external music, ''ahata''. While the external music is conveyed to consciousness via sensory organs in the form of the ears, in which mechanical energy is converted to electrochemical energy and then transformed in the brain to sensations of sound, it is the anahata chakra, which is considered responsible for the reception of the internal music, but not in the way of a normal sensory organ. The anahata concept refers to silent vibrations of the self, which are thought to be so closely associated with one's self and the Self that a person can not share their anahata with another human being. In other words, this inner sound, silent vibration of the self, is sacred and once reached will open the practitioner's chakras, which ultimately will unite the body to the divine/cosmos. With continued sounds and a focus on silent vibrations of the self and controlled breath, the individual can, according to Nāda yoga, "listen in on" their own anahata, their own "inner sound", which can take up to nine different forms. Such a process of inner awareness and sensitivity leads to increased self-recollectedness and finally to awakening. To concentrate on this inner sound (silent vibration of the self) as a support for meditation is very helpful to tame the mind, and when it has been clearly recognized, used for self-recollectedness in outer life as well. Eventually, it can be experienced as penetrating all matter and indeed vibrates eternally throughout the Creation. In Nāda yoga, one of the main breathing sounds is ahaṃ (literally "I," referring to the inner essence, not ego), where each part of the word (a ha ṃ) is focused on and spoken individually. The echoes produced by each of these spoken letters is a time where the yogi should immerse themself and rest. Now, because of imbalances within the human body, Nāda yoga begins by removing the ailments and impurities by "awakening the fire in the body (jāṭhara)" (Timalsina 212) with the use of a sound resembling that of a bee. When the yogi/yogini is forming sounds, their mind should not wander off to other entities. One group to incorporate yoga, Nāda yoga specifically, and the practice of sound into the spiritual transformation is the Josmanĩ. The Josmanĩ are identified as a Sant tradition, and they are a blend of Śrī Vaiṣṇava Bhakti tradition with the Nāth Yoga tradition. Yoga is used in "personal and social transformation" (Timalsina 202). The Josmani's spiritual quest interlinks the practice of Kuṇḍali and Nāda Yoga. In the West, detailed indications and advice have been given by Edward Salim Michael in his book ''The Law of attention, Nada Yoga and the way of inner vigilance''. Ajahn Sumedho, from the
Thai Forest Tradition The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from meaning Kammaṭṭhāna, "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a Parampara, lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The Thai Forest Traditi ...
teaches the practice of this inner sound. The condition known in western medicine as
tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...
is considered in Ayurvedic medicine to possibly be caused by spiritual awakening to the ''anahata.''


Primary literature

'' Nada Bindu Upanishad'' '' Shurangama Sutra'' The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, often spelled Shurangama Sutra or Surangama Sutra in English, is a Mahayana sutra and one of the main texts used in the Chán school in Chinese Buddhism. In the Surangama Sutra, Avalokitesvara says that he attained enlightenment through concentration on the subtle inner sound. The Buddha then praises Avalokitesvara and says that this is the supreme way to go.
"How sweetly mysterious is the Transcendental Sound of Avalokiteshvara! It is the pure Brahman Sound. It is the subdued murmur of the seatide setting inward. Its mysterious Sound brings liberation and peace to all sentient beings who in their distress are calling for aid; it brings a sense of permanency to those who are truly seeking the attainment of Nirvana's Peace . . ."
"All the Brothers in this Great Assembly, and you too, Ananda, should reverse your outward perception of hearing and listen inwardly for the perfectly unified and intrinsic sound of your own Mind-Essence, for as soon as you have attained perfect accommodation, you will have attained to Supreme Enlightenment."


Secondary literature


Mantrayana

1. Jamgon Kongtrul (1813–1899) provides an important paradigm of salience for the esoteric
Dzogchen Dzogchen ( 'Great Completion' or 'Great Perfection'), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Bön aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The goal ...
doctrine of "sound, light and rays" (Wylie: sgra 'od zer gsum) and the 'mantra' of the
Mantrayana ''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Buddhis ...
tradition in particular, Kongtrul, ''et al.'' (2005: p. 431) identifies the “primordial sound” (''nāda'') and its
semantic field In linguistics, a semantic field is a related set of words grouped semantically (by meaning) that refers to a specific subject.Howard Jackson, Etienne Zé Amvela, ''Words, Meaning, and Vocabulary'', Continuum, 2000, p14. The term is also used in ...
:
The primordial indestructible great vital essence (''gdod ma'i mi shigs pa'i thig le chen po''), which is the root or ground of all of cyclic life amsaraand perfect peace irvana is known as primordial (''gdod ma'') because it has no beginning or end; as indestructible (''mi shigs pa'') because it is indivisible; as vital essence (''thig le'') because it pervades the various appearances; and as great (''chen po'') because there is nothing that it does not encompass. There are countless synonyms for the primordial indestructible great vital essence, such as "great seal" (''phyag rgya chen po, mahāmudrā''), "great bliss" (''bde ba chen po, mahāsukha''), "primordial sound" (''nāda''), "all-pervading vajra of space" (''mkha' khyab nam mkha'i rdo rje''), "ordinary awareness" (''tha mal shes pa''), "pristine awareness channel" (''ye shes kyi rtsa''), "pristine awareness wind" (''ye she kyi rlung''), "invincible ''ham''" (''gzhom med kyi ham''), "invincible vital essence" (''gzhom med kyi thig le''), "essence of enlightenment" (''sugatagarbha''), and "transcendent wisdom" (''she rab phar phyin, prajnā-pāramitā'') (CPR, f. 29a3-b2).
This quotation comes from the famed '' Sheja Dzö'' or 'The Treasury of Knowledge' ()Kongtrul Lodro Taye (author, compiler); Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group (translators) (1995, 2003). ''The Treasury of Knowledge, Book One; Myriad Worlds: Buddhist Cosmology in Abhidharma, Kãlacakra, Dzog-chen''. , p.36 a voluminous work, encyclopedic in breadth, by Jamgon Kongtrul. 2. The
Mahasiddha Mahasiddha (Sanskrit: ''mahāsiddha'' "great adept; ) is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic and ...
Vinapa (The Musician) achieved
mahamudra Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmud ...
through contemplation of the unborn, unstruck sound:
With perseverance and devotion
I mastered the vina's errant chords;
but then practicing the unborn, unstruck sound
I, Vinapa, lost my self.
...his mastery of the "unborn, unstruck sound" made audible by eradication of concepts, judgements, comparisons and criticism that obscure cognition of the pure sound of the instrument, is accomplishment of the fulfilment process. The unstruck sound is the sound of silence and is the auditory equivalent of phenomenal emptiness. It is absolute sound; it is the potential sound of everything composed and waiting to be composed. Lost in this non-sound, the sense of self becomes infinitely diffused in emptiness.
These quotes are from p. 91 and p. 93 respectively of "Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas" by Keith Dowman, Publisher: State University of New York Press ()


See also

*
Pranava ''Om'' (or ''Aum''; ; , ISO 15919: ''Ōṁ'') is a polysemous symbol representing a sacred sound, seed syllable, mantra, and invocation in Hinduism. Its written form is the most important symbol in the Hindu religion. It is the ess ...
*
Logos ''Logos'' (, ; ) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric, as well as religion (notably Logos (Christianity), Christianity); among its connotations is that of a rationality, rational form of discourse that relies on inducti ...
*
Shabda ''Shabda'' (, ) is the Sanskrit word for "speech sound". In Sanskrit grammar, the term refers to an utterance in the sense of linguistic performance. History In classical Indian philosophy of language, the grammarian Katyayana stated that ''s ...
* Kirtan *
Aether theories In the history of physics, aether theories (or ether theories) proposed the existence of a medium, a space-filling substance or field as a transmission medium for the propagation of electromagnetic or gravitational forces. Since the development of ...


Notes


References

* * * * * * Sumathy, S. & Sairam, TV, Music Therapy Traditions in India Voices - A World Forum for Music Therapy 5 (2005): 1 (visited 2007–12) https://web.archive.org/web/20071013225704/http://www.voices.no/country/monthindia_march2005.html * * * * * Timalsina, Sthaneshwar. "Songs of Transformation: Vernacular Josman, Literature and the Yoga of Cosmic Awareness."
International Journal of Hindu Studies The ''International Journal of Hindu Studies'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The editor-in-chief is Sushil Mittal (James Madison University). The journal was established in 1997 and a ...
. n. page. Web. 24 Sep. 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nada Yoga Yoga styles