Prachanda Bhedam Anahata Naadam--Unstruck and Unmade sound.

[Guest guest]

Dear Omkari Priyas,

 

 

Just as the soul enlivens the human body, what gives life to this audible sound is the natural sound and rhythm of the human body. This is called Anahata Nada (unstruck sound). And as a musical instrument is also made to sing, so to speak, only by the power of conscious activity, it is the Anahata Nada that is behind the sound produced by instruments also. This is the primal divine force present in all living beings, and is a manifestation of Brahman.

 

 

 

The same divinity is also the basis of the supreme powers of the universe, called Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The cultivation or propitiation of the Anahata Nada is called Nada Yoga. This is described in the composition Mokshamu galada, as the combination (samyoga) of breath (Prana) and energy (Anala).

 

 

 

As such, the practice of music itself can be a powerful method of Yogic practice. The music of great composers like Tyagaraja and others continues to captivate listeners even today, because it is the result of intense Nada Yoga. It elevates both the musician and the listener to a higher plane of human experience, and brings great joy and peace. Music has an intrinsic power that enables one to explore the inexhaustible depths of Yoga and scale the successive planes of Yogic experience.

 

 

 

 

 

Nada – is musical sound. The whole subject of music relates to nada. Nada gives rise to shrutis, and these give rise to svaras and these in turn give rise to ragas.

 

 

 

Nada admits of the divisions: Ahata and anAhata. The nada that is heard without the conscious effort of a human or other being is anAhAta. The nada produced by the conscious effort id Ahata.

 

AnAhata nada is music of the spheres, music of Nature and includes the nada emanating from the mUlAdhAra part of the human body. All these are audible only to yogis. Tyagaraja, the great nada yogi of recent times refers to the greatness of the mUlAdhAranada in the first caraNa of his krti “svararAga sudhA”. The cognizance of anAhata nada is the object of yogopasana.

 

 

Kundalini is characterized by three different types of energy as it rises through various spiritual centers (known as chakras). At the beginning the energy is said to be gross, and the yogi's consciousness reflects the seeming diversity of the universe. At the intermediate level the energy is subtler and the yogi's consciousness becomes attuned to the unity within the diversity. At this stage the yogi begins to hear what are known as unstruck sounds.

 

 

 

 

Among other things, these sounds may resemble that of a hand-bell, a flute, a buzzing bee ... As the kundalini continues to rise, the energy becomes subtler still and it's almost as if the yogi becomes absorbed in the subtlest of sounds, a sound which is no sound. At this point the yogi's consciousness stops perceiving diversity altogether. All that remains is IAM

 

 

Total silence is perfection. Silence is necessary for sound to exist, it is the aural canvas for melody’s brush in our three dimensional world. The sounds we know are produced by at least two elements – the waves on a shore, wind in the trees, the blades of a bagpipe reed vibrating together, two lips, drum and drumstick, fingering a guitar string and so on.

 

 

One of the koans of Zen asks, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?". This sound is known in the Sanskrit tradition as "Anahata Nada," the "Unmade Sound". This means a sound not made in the way we know of – it is the "sound" of the universe, the primal sound of energy itself.

 

 

 

Ancient tradition says that the audible sound which most resembles this unmade sound is the sound of "AUM" (OM).

 

 

 

Brahma Randhra: Brahma-aperture; opening in the crown of the head; "the tiniest of apertures, in which is the silent, primordial sound, which gives you the impression that you are, but you really are not" (Nisargadatta)

 

(Nisargadatta Maharaj)

 

According to the Vedas, AUM is the most sacred of all words, out of which emanated the universe. The symbol of both the personal God and the Brahman or Absolute. AUM is regarded by Hindus as the greatest mantra being of incalculable spiritual potency.

 

 

Aum is not, in itself, the un-struck sound, but leads one to it. The mantra is composed of four elements. Three are vocal sounds: A, U, and M, while the fourth element is the silence which begins and ends the audible sound, the silence which supports it. The objective of intoning AUM is not only the mantra itself, but the experience of perceiving the unmade sound that supports it. This is the same as seeking the space which "supports" the universe and its galaxies : the "emptiness" or nothingness of space is necessary for the existence of everything seen and unseen.

 

 

Everything seen and unseen, heard and unheard, smelt and un-smelt, felt and unfelt, tasted and un-tasted, are manifestations of pure energy. This energy is the "container" for all things, and it is the seemingly elusive Source people have given numerous names to – God, Self, Brahman , Godhead. The Absolute, the Supreme Reality, the Ultimate Reality, Truth or the Self of the Vedanta Philosophy are also used interchangeably for Brahman, and so on.

 

 

 

 

 

In this Brahman and Brahmarandhra Nada,

 

 

I remain,

 

Yours yogically,

 

Shreeram Balijepalli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purity, Powers, Parabrahmam...

 

 

 

 

Click to join Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru

Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.