Music in combination with the vibration of a mantra opens the heart and brings you in the here and now. Time and time again I am touched to see that during a concert people can deeply relax, and this shows to me that mantra’s and music really help to come to silence and deeper into meditation. Mantra recitation always had a calming effect on me, and over the years it became my meditation. When we chant mantra’s alone or with others all thoughts disappear and we become one with the music and the mantra.
The Power of Mantra’s
The power of mantra’s lies in the repetition. The words (often in Sanskrit) are repeated over and over again and through this practice you calm the mind. The term mantra comes from Sanskrit, man stands for thinking and tra for liberation: singing mantra’s is liberating yourself from thoughts. The ultimate goal of all yoga is union, and also the goal of chanting mantra’s is ultimately to become one with the divine inside ourselves. When you sing with love, you completely dissolve in that love and that is the path of bhakti yoga (the path of devotion).
Many teachers and masters of yoga have said that this form of yoga, where chanting with devotion is the main practice, is the fastest and easiest way to come to this union (the ultimate goal of yoga).
An Ode to Silence
Sanskrit mantra’s and their powerful meaning offered me deep relaxation and I saw that others also experienced this. In 2019 I released my first album “Doorway to Silence”, with the mantra’s that I loved so much. The mantra’s in Sanskrit with their translation into English, slowly guide the listener into silence. Many people describe the music as soothing and the English lyrics all point to the love and peace that we already are, that we are complete in the here and now; and perfect in our imperfections. In a society that is so focused on performance and efficiency this music helps to slow down and above all to remind us that all that we are so eagerly looking for on the outside is already present on the inside.
This blog originally appeared in Dutch for the newsletter of StoelYoga Nederland: https://www.stoelyoga-nederland.nl/muziek-als-meditatie/