The Healing Power of Kirtan
by Carol Venable
Kirtan (keer-tahn) is a Sanskrit term referring to congregational chanting, an ecstatic musical call and response of names of God, and it is a regular religious practice for Hindus, and perhaps most famously, for Hare Krishnas.
But the principles of kirtan are far more universal than is commonly understood. Once you identify kirtan as the high vibration of joy and goodwill that it is, you can see its appearance in cultures around the world, and you can support its global spread without misgivings, no matter what your own path may be.
We are profoundly affected, and brought healing, by the vibrations of drums, shakers, didgeridoos, Tibetan bells and crystal bowls. Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto's photos of ice crystals from water exposed to different types of music show the beautiful and profound effect that sound has on matter. The visible difference in a crystal of water that has been prayed over for an hour is astonishing.
In the yoga tradition, the use of bhajans or hymns and the call and response of mantras to alter awareness takes the use of sound to an even deeper and more profound level.
On the widely-accepted premise that all creation is vibration, it's no great stretch to the understanding that sound vibration can access consciousness; what we hear affects us, and the sounds we make can affect the larger whole. The idea in kirtan is that the Sanskrit names of God are themselves of such a high vibration that chanting them raises the vibration of the chanter, and that group chanting actually brings us into harmony with the higher vibrations of the larger creation. Chanting and dancing often go together in these observances, because the feelings aroused are so joyous. Praise is believed to be the natural activity of spirit-souls who are in bliss.
A similar effect takes place in services like that of a large gospel church with a mass choir, or perhaps even, more solemnly, in the times when congregants feel a trancelike oneness participating in a Catholic Mass. Improved consciousness or feelings of bliss may also be the effect in groups at a rock concert or a wild folk dance, but a limiting distinction begins to be made if the musical material only celebrates the temporal world and intends no connection to a larger Creation. The vibration of the words themselves in chanting does matter – one does not get the same effect from chanting Coca-Cola as from chanting names of God. Kirtan devotees believe that the holy name is that by which the deity named is most immediately apprehended. The name of a deity, then, surpasses the level of symbol. The vibrations of its utterance are considered to be an actual form of the Absolute, dancing in Presence with us.
The Bible teaches that faith comes by hearing, again pointing to the effect of sacred utterance on the consciousness of the hearer. It is the ancient, traditionally potent sound vibrations that power great kirtans. If not the holy names of Shiva, Ram or Krishna, of Kali or of Jesus, (and there are numberless forms and names of God,) then the ancient names and sounds honored in other cultures are those one uses to access Divinity. Or to merge in the great connection with all Creation one might just chant the cosmic sound of the universal Om, which in Sanskrit basically means Yes in the very largest and most profound way. The spiritual sound vibrations we produce and share are a palpable connection with higher realms and a real bridge to a better world here.
The point of the activity is to align ourselves with everything that is Good. In these spiritual settings as we sing, or play our instruments, or even just wave our hands, sharing in harmony, we are expressing our own blessedness and goodwill in a manifest way - and that really does change things around us.
Regardless of path, people praising together is a cosmic vote for Goodness that really counts.
Sharing our hearts through music and chanting in groups is a healing, honorable, and some say eternal, spiritual practice - it is a divine way of experiencing the Divine together.
OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI - YES PEACE PEACE PEACE
- Carol Venable is part of a small mission in Blue Ridge , GA that supports ascension through music and the healing arts. She can be reached at holynamesmission@tds.net.
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