Chanting is an ancient time-tested method of overcoming grief and trauma — known for centuries in all parts of the world, as a religious practice. Chanting involves repetition of either meaningless phrases (or those phrases for which no rational meaning is possible) or assertive and self-encouraging resolutions. Chanting is defined as the continuous recitation of a word or phrase or sentence. It is popular in religious places and in meditation retreats. For some people, it is a means to alter the consciousness by de-activating the troubling mind. It is also believed by many for its usefulness in raising psychic power or energy.
Various chants in Hinduism and Buddhism use the word Om, which represent the totality of the Universal Being (Brahman).
Followers of Islam chant the ninety-nine names of Allah which are known as “The Beautiful Names.” Chanting of the name of Jesus in prayer for Christians is also common. Included in Christian chants are the four Western forms of chants which are distinguishable from each other: Gregorian, Gallican, Mozarabic, and Ambrosian. The three Eastern forms of chants – Byzantine, Syrian, and Armenian; and the Coptic and Ethiopian chants of northern Africa are also practiced.
Jewish chants are usually composed of the Biblical texts. According to Dr. Alfred Tomatis, Gregorian chant is actually a wonderful soundtrack for focused attention, which can help accelerate the process of learning. Unintended, the Gregorian chant contains all the sound ingredients necessary for the ideal state known as ‘Mind alert/Body relaxed.” state.
Many music psychotherapists believe that chanting is a helpful psychoacoustic process for creating relaxation. Some psychologists consider that the mental habituation created by chanting might result through the process of auditory pattern recognition, which eventually leads to passive hearing — which could be the secret of the relaxation response.
It is interesting to note the Gothic preference of high harmonics — a preference for relatively bright sounds, rich in high harmonics, using the upper part of the voice and moving cleanly from note to note has come to be recognized as a soothing experience.
In the East, the Tibetan singing bowls and gongs, made of an alloy of seven metals, have been found to produce similar effects. Here, a monk usually visualizes them as the petals of a lotus flower, closed and folded inward. As the bowl is sounded, the petals peel open one by one. The bowls are time-tested for physical healing in the hypnotic state as they provide an excellent vehicle to transport consciousness through the body and to envision biochemical changes taking place to promote health and vitality.
The bowls help in recreating the original harmonic frequency and stimulating the body to rediscover its own harmonic frequencies. It is a time-tested fact that the bowls always produce a positive response in listeners. Sometimes the bowl is placed over the body area and sounded so that vibrations spread out in the body as a sort of internal massage. In order to attenuate the chakras through sympathetic resonance, the bowl can be placed over the chakra points and sounded. Keeping several bowls around a person and sounding them result in a virtual ‘sound’ bath!
The bowl produces normally anywhere between 2 to 5 separate tones. The sound waves must bounce back and forth within a bowl, while also escaping to move through the sur-rounding air. Within the basic tone of each bowl are the overtones that present an initial perception, which then unfolds itself to the patient listeners. The ‘beat’ frequencies that one comes across in high quality bowls are the results of two or more wave trains passing simultaneously through the same region. This is supposed to result in synchronizing the brain’s hemispheres with a binaural beat as well as encouraging entertainment. By training in concentration and focusing, one could reach a brain wave frequency that ranges between 14 and 17 Hz (alpha — level). In this state of awareness, body and mind merge, while full consciousness and self-control are retained, resulting in a sort of what-is-called ‘relaxed alertness’.
The bowl could play a proactive role to a meditative technique, used to release tensions from the body and mind to become aware of the energy currents that flow in and around our body. Our sensitivity to these energies would no doubt be sharpened with increased practice with the bowl.
Employing the very special sound vibrations produced in our own body, overtones have produced a soothing impact on the mind and behaviour of people. Often referred to as ‘sounds within a sound’, overtone represents a set of harmonic frequencies related to the main (fundamental) pitch (or note or the voice). The Buddhist monks picture overtones as petals of a lotus-bud slowly unfolding them towards a full bloom. The whole process lies in the ultimate savouring of the true beauty, complexity and delicacy of the bloom as a whole through its unfolding petals.
‘Aum’ Chanting
Aum (also Om or, more rarely, Ohm) is a mystical or sacred syllable in Indian religions (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism) which is often placed at the beginning of texts and ending of recitations.
Aum forms a dependable mantra for all chanters despite their religious affiliations.
A simple, but effective way of aum’ chanting is described below step by step:
- Take a short phrase (e.g., ‘aum’)
- As you chant (intone), slow down the process of utterance.
- As you intone, focus your attention on the outgoing air. Visualize step by step the subtle flow of air in your body that goes along with your chanting. Starting from the abdomen, visualize the flow of air into your mouth cavity, via stomach, heart and throat. Note, particularly, the movements which take place in your larynx and mouth and be sensitive to its quality (warmth or texture) of this streaming breath.
- As you intone, also focus your attention on the natural resonators in your body (e.g., mouth, throat, sinuses, wind-pipes and lungs) and identify their shapes and inner architecture.
- Give yourself time to listen to the music, which is unique to your own self.
- Cultivate the habit of ‘inner smile’ (which naturally reveals itself in your exterior).
Employing the very special sound vibrations produced in our own body, overtones have produced a soothing impact on the mind and behaviour of people.
The Ways of Chanting the Vedas: An Illustration
In India, Vedas are the most ancient of treatises, which have survived for over 5000 years. Their associations with tones and melodies have enabled their easy memorization. It is known that the Vedas were chanted in eight different ways. At present, however, only five have survived. They are:
- Vakya or Samhita: Also referred to as mula (base), this method refers to enunciation of the full sentence.
- Pada: In this method, each word in a sentence is uttered.
- Krama: Here, the words are used in certain fixed patterns. For in-stance, the pattern of (1-2), (2-3), (3-4), (4-5) etc.
- Jatha: Here the pattern of chanting is: (1-2, 2-1, 1-2), (2-3, 3-2, 2-3), (3-4, 4-3, 3-4) etc.
- Ghana: Here the pattern of chanting is: (1-2, 2-1, 1-2-3, 3-2-1, 1-2-3), (2-3, 3-2, 2-3-4, 4-3-2, 2-3-4) etc.
Illustration of the chanting pattern of a Vedic text
Namah Shambhave Cha Mayobhave Cha Namah ShankarayaCha Mayaskaraya Cha Namah Shivaya Cha Shivataraaya Cha
Meaning: I bow to Shiva, the creator of auspicious, delightful and beneficial events and deeds; I bow to the one who is exceedingly auspicious).
Now one can find how this text is chanted:
Namah Shambhave (1-2)
Shambhave Namah (2-1) Namah Shambhave Cha (1-2-3)
Cha Shambhave Namah (3-2-1)
Namah Shambhave Cha (1-2-3)
Shambhave Cha (2-3)
Cha Shambhave (3-2)
Shambhave Cha Mayobhave (2-3-4)
Mayobhave Cha Shambhave (4-3-2)
Shambhave Cha Mayobhave (2-3-4)
This article was published in Ayurveda And All May 2009 – Pages 33 to 35
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, July 29, 2021