How have you used chanting, mantras, toning or sound in your meditative or spiri

1. 69

   Emanate Presenceposted 11 years ago

   How have you used chanting, mantras, toning or sound in your meditative or spiritual practice?

   replyreport
2. 0

   Sri Tposted 11 years ago

   I have used it to establish blissful states on command. Within seconds of chanting my mantra, I am elevated to a higher level of consciousness. The whole world and it's problems disappear and only peace and ecstasy exists. The illusion of the world was never real anyway. It was only a set of concepts in the mind being hurled in by the media.

   replyreport
   1. 69

      Emanate Presenceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      May I ask which mantra you chant? It came to me today to write a hub about the subject of the question. I understand if you prefer not to mention it publically. I am now following your writings. If you feel so, see the hub 'Hawaii O Hawaii.'

      replyreport
   2. 0

      Sri Tposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have used many over the years, but the one I am using right now is so powerful that I have to keep it secret. I will check out your hubs.

      replyreport
3. 80

   Renee Abbottposted 11 years ago

   I use the Ho'oponopono chant, which is Hawaiian healing chant.
   
   I am sorry
   Please forgive me
   I love you
   I thank you
   This helps to cleanse away everything connected to me, my ancestors and Earth.
   There is a song by this title, Ho'oponopono song, which you can find on Youtube.
   This chant has gotten me through some very hard times in my life. I was fortunate to be sent to Hawaii to learn the whole Ho'oponopono process in 1999, and have been using it since.

   replyreport
   1. 69

      Emanate Presenceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Aloha Renee, How beautiful! We were on the islands from 2001 - 2004. Wrote a poem into a video hub, Hawaii O Hawaii. May I quote from you in the hub-to-be on chants & mantras? May be awhile. Will check the YouTube video & visit your profile.

      replyreport
   2. 80

      Renee Abbottposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Aloha Emanate
      The Islands called to me so strongly. I have not been able to make it back but the Goddess Pele had introduced herself and I have followed since. Yes you can quote me. I am a H'oponopono practioner.

      replyreport
4. 72

   manatita44posted 11 years ago

   Yes. I have used and still use mantras and chants, as well as some sounds. Of course mantras and chanting themselves involve sounds. Still I take it that you refer to other sounds. I was in a prayer circle with instrumental sounds at City Hall, Austria, not so long ago. We had a festival there.
   Now you will appreciate that most devotional Paths (bhakti), have a Spiritual Head who prescribes a set way to meditate. Still, Sri Chinmoy covered mantras, sounds, chants and so forth, in His many lectures and discussions.
   
   Just as a matter of sharing, one thing that stuck with me, is that my Teacher said that Aspiration is the greatest mantra. Big word? The Christian saints call it 'yearning' 'longing'. Nisagadatta, the great God-man of the East, called it 'earnestness'. In other words, the intensity of our cry for God. Sri Ramakrishna used to roll in the dust and sand and cry for days, until God came to him.
   
   The child cries for its mother, and she comes running. So too, our inner cry must be intense. The burning flame within our hearts must burn bright, brighter, brightest, being ready to sacrifice all else. This is Aspiration. Don't panic, it has many levels, and I have a long way to go.
   
   Returning to the subject, chanting, mantras and sound are all extremely useful and do help. Bear in mind that it is the inner cry which will push us in this direction. Peace.

   replyreport
   1. 84

      Laura Schneiderposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, what a powerful answer to this question. You have inspired me to look further into several of the directions you mentioned. Thank you for introducing me/us to some concepts that may be new to us. Peace be to you as well, Manatita44.

      replyreport
   2. 72

      manatita44posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Laura. I am a servant.As such I approach each subject in the way I feel will most inspire or uplift. Many blessings.

      replyreport
5. 69

   Emanate Presenceposted 11 years ago

   A motive for writing some hubs is that it provides a current in which to travel in memory to visit pieces of this lifetime and form them into a picture that is whole.
   
   Part of that process is sometimes to ask related questions publically and consider the answers that are given and how they relate to my experience as well as learning of the ways of others.
   
   When I see the larger picture, it may be for sharing as a hub or not, but in any case it is part of my own expansion of awareness and understanding.
   
   After asking this question, I started making notes on my life experience around chanting and sounds. I grin and shake my head at the journey, it has been so varied and intense.
   
   I respect the path of every person. My own conclusion at this stage is to let go of all teachers and techniques, traditions, systems and modalities. There is no only way. The way of each person is made over the lifetime and is as unique as the individual. Each life is a new creation.
   
   I conclude my way is to live as fully as possible in the present moment and trust wholly in the guidance of my own inner voice. For me, this is the way of spiritual maturity.
   
   Namaste.

   replyreport
   1. 72

      manatita44posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      EP.
      I feel sad and hurt with your penultimate paragragh, however carefully worded. I would laugh at someone else, but not you. You are extremely busy, but it may be useful to re-visit  my Hubs.
      To digress here, Dawn wanted your name. I have sent it.

      replyreport
   2. 69

      Emanate Presenceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Manatita, thank you for sharing honestly your emotional reaction to the paragraph. My life is full but not busy. I go where Higher Self leads. Your comment inspired me to write a new question. I will respond kindly to Dawn when she writes.

      replyreport
   3. 84

      Laura Schneiderposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      E.P. I share your feeling that there is no single way, but that one must experience much, live in the moment, and follow and trust in the guidance of one's inner voice. Living in the moment is the hardest challenge for me, but I am improving at it.

      replyreport
   4. 69

      Emanate Presenceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Laura, I talk a lot but living it is something else! Even when I think I already have my own answer to the questions I ask, it is my intention to always be open to become more rounded by hearing in my heart what others say. Thank you for being here.

      replyreport
6. 63

   teacherjoe52posted 11 years ago

   I love my morning talk with Jesus.
   Makes for the beginning of a great day every day.
   God bless you.

   replyreport
   1. 69

      Emanate Presenceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I understand that. When I wrote notes on my lifetime experiences, one was the high Mass sung in Latin. Another was Pentecostal Christian glossolalia and another Christian songs which were talking with Jesus. Besides Buddhist & other chants.

      replyreport
   2. 84

      Laura Schneiderposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, I wish I could reach the point of having a great day every day. I bow to your faith and to your accomplishment in handing yourself wholely over to it. Peace, teacherrjoe52.

      replyreport
7. 84

   Laura Schneiderposted 11 years ago

   I often use a "singing bowl" from the far East. A singing bowl is typically made of many metals that, when rubbed around the top outside rim gently or firmly with a wooden tool, makes a loud or soft humming tone, which you control by how fast and how firmly you press the tool against the bowl as you run it around and around the outside rim of the bowl. Note that some singing bowls are made of glass and use a different kind of tool to make the sound.
   
   Keeping the sound consistent in loudness and pitch is sometimes my goal when meditating; other times it is varying the sound that is my goal. Sometimes I match the speed or pressure of the strokes to my heartbeats or breathing rate and adjust both either up or down. In any case, the result is a refreshing, energizing, "re-setting" of my mental state, and whenever I feel I am "done", I stop and enjoy feelings of grounded-ness and one-ness with the universe. Any prior cares or worries are long gone. Usually it only takes me 5-10 minutes to achieve this state of calm when I work with my singing bowl, whereas with other methods I have used it often takes much longer to get the same results.
   
   Playing the piano, choosing particular songs or just freeform doodling, is another way I use sound to shape and enhance/improve my thinking and feeling. When I am angry, I find comfort in Beethoven (someone who REALLY understood great pain as well as great joy). When I am happy, I find a kindred spirit in songs I can sing along with, such as show tunes or pop songs. When I am dreamy, sad, or playful, Debussy's various works come and join me. Often the same song can be played differently to match my mood or to change it. For example, Debussy's Clair de Lune has one section that, when played loudly instead of very softly as the music was written, comforts me and makes me feel strong, my grand piano often swaying under the energy that my fingers pass on through the keys. Simply doodling without music or form often takes me through a journey of emotions and challenges, too. Learning a new song or section of a song is often something I can challenge myself with to put my thinking more on the logical side than on the emotional side, thereby centering me between the two when I am done playing. Songs are something I can carry with me in my head and play from memory anywhere I go, which is another way in which I can enjoy or control my emotions.

   replyreport
   1. 69

      Emanate Presenceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Laura, this is so rich in feeling and realness. Kati has a singing bowl and hearing her play it is always uplifting & inspiring to me. You reminded me of the Woodpecker song my Dad sang to get him through. It was the closing song at his funeral.

      replyreport
   2. 84

      Laura Schneiderposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I'm sorry to hear of your father's passing, but glad that his song was the last he heard.
      
      Everyone should have a "Woodpecker song" they can rely on to get them through. Mine is The Star Spangled Banner--it reminds me to be greater than myself.

      replyreport