Earlier we have seen Nada Yoga from the point of view of medical science. In this note we will see the spiritual aspect of Nada Yoga.
Nada yoga aims to achieve union with our higher self through the medium of sound. It is a yogic science of inner transformation through Nada.
Our entire cosmos consists of sound vibrations or Nada. Nada yoga is the yoga of mindful listening. It is a journey inward on the road of Nada.
The final destination of this journey is enlightenment. Till that goal is achieved, every moment filled with Nada gives you comfort and contentment. In nada yoga sound is not just what appears to be outwardly to the sensations through the outer ear. It is an internal sound perceived through the inner ear.
We focus on this internal sound to reunite our external self with the inner and eternal reality.
Nada yoga uses sound vibrations and resonances to treat various spiritual and psychological conditions. It also helps increase one's awareness of the chakras and energizes them.
We have Nada Bindu Upanishad (नादबिन्दु उपनिषत्). It is one of the minor Upanishads.It is one of twenty Yoga Upanishads in the four Vedas. It is also known as Amrita Nada Bindu Upanishad.(अमृतनादबिन्दु उपनिषद). In this yoga, contemplation is done on Omkara imagined as Hamsa, in twelve Kalas or variations of the four matras (intonations). The variation is produced by the three svara (note on the musical scale), namely Udatta, Anudatta and Svarita.
It is scientifically established that the entire Universe and everything in it is vibrating.
This vibration is at the core of what connects and coheres everything. Vibration is the basis of producing sound. Our ancient scriptures hold that everything is vibrating and that everything is sound. Hazrat Inayat Khan has nicely put this in The Mysticism of Sound and Music: “That which has created, and which is holding, and in which is held the whole manifestation and the whole cosmos, is one power, and that is vibration.”
Sound is of two types. Internal sound is called ‘anahata’. It is the sound of silence. External sound is called ‘ahata’. According to Nada yoga, with a focused mind and mindful breath, with concentration on external sound the mind becomes quiet and the sadhaka listens to his own anahata sound.
Nada Yoga practice involves emptying of internal thoughts and external distractions, focusing your listening so that you hear nothing but the nada without interruption.
Let the sound pour into your head and your body as if you were a pot filled with water. Let the sound vibrate everywhere inside of you. Put yourself in the sound and the sound in yourSelf. Become the sound and let the sound become you. Feel the connection between your vibration and the vibration of the Cosmos. Know that they have always been, and
will always be the same.
Sri Anand Yoga bypasses the intricacies of Nada Yoga as per Hatha Yoga. Instead SAY focuses on the simple techniques of mindfulness in listening to ANY sound with regulatory breathing in a particular manner. Like all other practices in SAY, Nada Yoga is to be practiced all throughout day and night, as much as possible.
We will have a separate note on Practice of Nada Yoga. This practice is based on the medical science of Nada Yoga as well as spiritual science as explained above and elsewhere.
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For further reading
Hersey, Baird (17 December 2013). The Practice of Nada Yoga: Meditation on the Inner Sacred Sound. Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. ISBN 978-1-62055-182-0.
Larson, Gerald James; Bhattacharya, Ram Shankar (2008). Yoga: India's Philosophy of Meditation. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-3349-4.
Beck, Guy (1995). Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-8120812611.
Mircea Eliade (1970), Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691017646
Hazrat Inayat Khan - The Mysticism of Sound and Music
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