How Music Affects Us

Ancient Chinese history expounds that music will create a specific kind of society because it is or is not in tune with the Universal Order of Life.

According to the Universal Order of Life, wholistically speaking, because music affects us emotionally and mentally, it has to affect us spiritually and physically, because we are not intended to be separate in these aspects, but whole. A living being divided within its self will not survive for long, or worse, will just subsist, having lost their vision of purpose.

Confucius stated that in order to have a healthy nation, one must have healthy citizens, in order to be healthy citizens, one must have internal harmony and peace, etc... in order to have internal peace and harmony one must create a life of peace and harmony.

We have all heard the old adage: music to sooth the soul, or music to soothe the savage beast. Considering each as a nature of humanity, humans are not beasts, but souls seeking divinity, but sometimes, humans act beastly and the soul is abused and pushed aside, put down, crushed or even lost.

In the eternal Now, there is always room to rectify the confusion and chaos, to raise up and awaken the soul; and I believe the music we create is a good place to start.

The following are my interpretations at this point in time, of various sources of information on the subject. I reserve the right to change my mind in understanding on this subject, as I continue my searching for Truth.

According to Skyscript.co.uk, "Pythagoras recognized that the musical octave is the simplest and most profound expression of the relationship between Spirit and matter. The miracle of the octave is that it divides wholeness into two audibly distenguishable parts, yet remain recognizable as the same musical note-a tangible manifestation of the Hermetic maxim "as above, so below". Pythagoraeans used music to heal the body and elevate the soul, yet believed earthly music was no more than a faint echo of the universal harmony of the spheres."

So, I believe that Time is the Mother aspect of God (matter;from the very core of each cell into larger manifestation), and Rhythm in its original form comes from the Father aspect of God (the rhythm of the cosmos), these together create what I am interpreting as the proverbial Music of the Spheres ("the intertwined relatiosnhip between the structures of music and those of the physical world and a conscious awareness of mystical or spiritual qualities being transmitted through composed sound^"1).

Rhythms

The basis of the 4 = fire, air, water and earth, the elements of our human being-ness and all matter.

Soul discipline is the 4/4 time, the rhythm initiates and perpetuates the turning of the chakras. This turning action is what facilitates our ability to create- the rhythm moves Energy through the major chakras.

The human heart beat is the 3/4 time, Alpha/Omega, TaiChi in the heart -the power that creates the very structure/frame of the world, through us individually and collectively.

The rhythm of the soul is the 6/8 time.

The vision of the soul is the 2/4 time of the all seeing eye of God that guards soul vision.

The sheath surrounding the heart vibrates best with the 12/8 time.

The solar plexus is the 5/4 time, our mastery and movement of water (our emotional body)

The 7 chakras are the 7/4 time, the momentum of the musical scale.

The rings of the causal body around each chakra is the 12/4 time. These "rings of the causal body" are spheres of accumulated good karmic actions, our proverbial "treasures in heaven" that we access to create our dharma.

All of the creation is based upon mathematical forms of rhythm that must remain within these disciplines of Time, which is the Mother aspect of God Energy. Otherwise, souls lose their sense of time, of Mother, hence their ability to create within the Laws of the Universal Order. Our 7 planes of consciousness are generated through our chakras, or they are not.

We, as human beings, are intended to be instruments of Universal Energy. The sounds and rhythms we create are a direct indication of our "attunement" with the Universal Order of the Cosmos. Most of us need a "tuning" of our chakras ! :D

Instruments of the Chakras

Base Chakra-- the drum of the original East Indian music is considered the voice of the Mother aspect of God... the rhythm of Life (the OM mantra)

Seat of the Soul Chakra-- the woodwinds call the soul to the Mother

Solar Plexus Chakra--the pipe organ affects the desires of the soul to be the desires of God (like in Bach's organ music)

Heart Chakra-- the large harp can personify our attunement with the cosmos

Secret Chamber of the Heart Chakra--the harpsichord represents the details of Spirit that reside in "secret dimensions within" our physical heart

Throat Chakra-- the brass instruments (? which ones) represent our attunement with the "Word" of God/Cosmos

Third Eye Chakra-- the piano personifies the mastery of the single-eyed Vision of God, the Alpha and Omega/TaiChi

Crown Chakra-- the stringed instruments are the enlightenment of the Buddhic Mind/Christ Mind

Music accompanies the Flow of Energy from the Cosmos (the Spirit) into the very core of the cells of our being, through our auditory nervous system which controls our mind, emotions and body. The roots of auditory nerves have the widest connections throughout all functions of our body.

Where Are We Now?

Looking at societies today, how much peace and harmony do we see? What are the reasons for this lack of harmony? Have we lost our way, and/or are we gradually losing our vision for where we fit into the Universal Order of Life? What can we do to regain this vision?

A soul's purpose in life is to re-unite with God as Father and Mother/the Universal Order of Life; to free one's soul from bondage of the lower nature. Every aspect of life generates or degrades this purpose.

The Universal Energy that moves through our chakras (see my hub on Energy Centers) is what sustains us and what we use to create our world and our life. If this Energy is "knocked off its natural rhythm" that originally came/comes from the Source/God, our vision degrades and life becomes the spectrum of chaos that takes action through us.

It shows in our psychologies, how we treat others and our self. Some aspects of it we are not consciously aware of, which is the purpose of a spiritual path and the sacred mysteries thereof.

A mystical path is being further defined each day in parallel manners of everyday life and through continued progression in the sciences. But to get at the deepest understandings, we do need to study and apply our self to a spiritual path, even though most seem imperfect because of human perceptions and the interventions (rather, interruptions) of dogma and doctrine. The basis of the spiritual path is to connect our soul with the Infinite of God, not someone else's concepts of God, though some times they can help us along our way.

One part of the answer to human ills and societal ills, is to use our Energy wisely in our creations of music and other aspects of life so that we sustain the natural Flow of Energy to generate Love, Peace and Harmony.

Please, I do welcome comments and information on any aspect of this subject.

Sources: 1. from notes by Stephanie Chase, Merkin Concert Hall October 2005.

This text has basic information on rhythms and instruments of the chakras from The Science of Rhythm for the Mastery of the Sacred Energies of Life published by The Summit Lighthouse.

This text has some 'classic' information that came from an online course "Music of the Spheres" that covered aspects and references from Phythagoras, Aristotle's views thereof, Plato's "Republic", and Kepler's "Harmonice Munde", Alberti, a renaissance architect and many others