The sounds of Mantra Chanting make us feel at peace but also have the power to literally transform our lives by lifting us towards higher consciousness.
The human voice is one of the most powerful sounds we can hear and has the ability for transformation and healing. Chanting mantras is both therapeutic and healing for us and is, therefore, an extremely important tool in our quest for a better and blissful life.
Sound in Samkhya philosophy
According to Samkhya philosophy, the very first element that manifested itself in this plane was sound, and that the element of sound itself originated from Lord Shiva’s Damaru, (drum). The Sanskrit alphabet is made up of 52 sounds, all of which are associated with different parts of the body and these sounds are like mantras.
Our body is compressed energy and this compressed energy responds strongly to vibration. This energy is so subtle and sensitive that any thoughts and ideas we have can affect and then alter its nature. Our mood swings can alter the nature of our energy. When a mood swing, such as anger, is very strong and predominant, the energy of the body becomes a conductor of that particular mood.
The same thing applies to mantra chanting. Mantras have the power to vibrate energy at certain frequencies and ranges, and therefore to demagnetize the body. Sound travels five times more efficiently through water than through air, and as the human body is comprised of more than 70% water, it is, therefore, an excellent conductor for both sound and vibration. The sacred pronouncements or chanting of Sanskrit Mantras give us the power to achieve our goals and to elevate ourselves from the ordinary and on toward the higher levels of consciousness.
Healing mantras in the Vedic texts
The power of mantras is known from ancient times and the Vedic literature is full of all kinds of mantras for healing of human physical and emotional disorders, but the proper and systematic chanting of mantras is not known to common people to use in their daily life for them, the Vedic scholars has designed a Mantra Yoga and sound therapy studio, where proper mantra chanting teachings and practical sessions of mantra practices will be given to the participants.
The tantric view
In tantric philosophy, the mantra is a force that can be used for the awakening of our spiritual consciousness. The basis of the mantra is sound, which ranges from gross to subtle. Throughout the cosmos, there are slow, medium, and fast sound waves. The medium waves are perceptible to us, but the slow and fast waves are not. When the sound of the mantra is produced, it has a medium range of frequency which is known as perceptible or gross sound. But when the mantra is silently intoned, it has a faster rate of frequency and becomes imperceptible or subtle sound.
Therefore, a mantra works on the earthly plane and also on the higher planes. When you produce a sound and accelerate the frequency, it affects the inner realm of consciousness. Just as when you pick up a pebble and throw it into a calm, quiet lake, the impact creates ripples and the ripples from circles which expand wider and wider according to the force and weight of the pebble. In the same way, when you repeat a mantra, the sound hits the homogeneity of consciousness and creates ripples that help to expand the mind.