At low frequencies only the large circles vibrate with a slow, undulating motion, emitting a low-pitched sound. At higher frequencies only the smaller circles vibrate with a smooth, high-pitched whir. Intermediate frequencies vibrate the middle circles. You can control which circles vibrate by adjusting the knob to different pitches.
Our bodies are the "plate" that vibrates the chakras. The general vibrational pattern of our life-our actions, thoughts, emotions, eating patterns, and environment-sets off the vibrations of our chakras. We can activate different chakras by changing the vibrational rhythm of our lives. That which is slow allows the first chakra to open. Higher frequencies stimulate the third chakra. Beyond that it must be remembered that we deal with subtler vibrations-moving the physical body faster won't open up the higher chakras, but meditation may allow the brain to process "higher" vibrations. As we get out of the limitations of time and space, our vibrations are less hindered. On a vibration level, enlightenment could be thought of as the omnipresence of a waveform with infinite frequency and infinite amplitude.
MANTRAS
The essence of all beings is earth, the essence of earth is water, the essence of water is plants, the essence of plants is man, the essence of man is speech, the essence of speech is the Holy Knowledge (Veda) the essence of Veda is SamaVeda (word, tone, sound), the essence of Sama-Veda is OM.
-Chandogya Upanishad
The Chladni disk and the principles of rhythm entrainment show us that sound waves can and do affect matter. It is not surprising that they would affect consciousness as well.
This is the basic idea behind sacred sounds used in meditation and chanting, called mantras. The word comes from "man;" meaning mind, and "tra," which means protection or instrument. Thus, a mantra is a tool for protecting our minds from the traps of non-productive cycles of thought and action. Mantras serve as focusing devices for making the mind one-pointed and calm. The vibration of the mantra has been likened to the vibration of someone shaking your shoulders to wake you up from sleep.18 A mantra is designed to awaken the mind from its habitual sleep of ignorance.
Just as a particular vibration on the Chladni disk created a mandala out of a pile of sand, so can the chanting of a simple mantra, such as OM, change our random pile of thoughts and emotions into a cohesive and graceful pattern. It is not necessary to intellectualize the meaning or symbology of a mantra for the sound to have this effect upon us. The rhythm of the sound will work on a subconscious level and permeate our inner rhythms. In fact, it is part of the mantra's magic that one not think about the meaning, for then we transcend the fragmented aspects of the conscious mind and perceive an underlying wholeness.
If, however, meaning is ascribed to a particular sound, as in the use of an affirmation that we repeat to ourselves every day, such as: "I am love" the rhythm of the repetition helps to infuse that meaning into our consciousness.
Spoken aloud for a few minutes in the morning, an effective mantra can reverberate silently in the mind all day long, carrying with it the imprints of its vibration, image, and meaning. With each reverberation, it is believed that the mantra is working its magic on the fabric of both mind and body, creating greater order and harmony. Actions may take on a new rhythm, dancing to the drumbeat of the mantra. If a fast mantra is chosen, it can be used to generate energy and overcome inertia. If a slow, peaceful mantra is used, it can help bring a state of relaxation and calm throughout the day.
Seed Sounds of the Chakras
Each chakra has its own associated seed sound which is said to contain the essence, and therefore the secrets, of that chakra. As each chakra has its own associated element, we find that the seed sounds are believed to give access to the qualities of that element. The seed sounds or bija mantras for each chakra are as follows:
The M in each of these sounds is said to represent the maternal and material aspect of the universe. The A sound in turn represents the Father, the nonmaterial. L (lam, earth) is a heavy, closing sound, while H in HAM (ether) is a light, airy, ethereal sound, and R (ram, fire) is an energetic, fiery sound. In addition to the seed sounds, each chakra has a particular number of petals, each of which is named by a letter of the Sanskrit alphabet. Typically, consonants have come to reflect the hard, material aspects of the world, while vowels represent the spiritual or etheric aspects. Chakra five, then, is the carrier of the vowel sounds, as only vowels appear on its petals. Control of these letters is said to be in the hands of the Goddess Kali, whose name means "time." Kali is the destructive aspect of the Hindu goddesses, who destroys the world by removing the letters from the petals of the chakras, hence removing sound or speech.20 Without the sound that is the essence of all things, nothing can exist.
We are not helpless victims of disharmonious vibrations, and we can send out vibrations of our own. The uttering of mantras is a way of taking control of our rhythms and guiding the development of our minds and bodies at the fundamental etheric level.
The following table lists a few commonly used mantras and their purposes. This list is minute in comparison to the possibilities that exist for effective mantras. The importance of a mantra lies in its rhythm and overall vibration. Mantras are experienced within-you can perceive which ones are effective for you as you try them out. It does, however, take some time for a mantra to become fully effective. Take one on for a week or a month to fully assess the real benefit.
OM or AUM: The great primordial sound, the original sound from which the universe was created, the sound of all sounds together.
(For Christians, the mantra AMEN is similar to AUM.)
OM AH HUM: Three syllables of great power used for the following purposes: to purify an atmosphere prior to embarking upon a ritual or meditation; or to transmute material offerings to their spiritual counterparts.
OM MANI PADME HUM: "The jewel of the lotus resides within." MANI PADME represents the jewel in the lotus, the essential wisdom lying at the heart of Buddhist doctrine, the divine essence, while HUM represents the limitless reality embodied within the limits of the individual being. HUM unites the individual with the universal.
GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAM GATE BODHI SWAHA: Tibetan Smaller Heart Sutra.
I AM THAT I AM: An English version also designed to unite the individual with the universal.
OM NAMA SHIVAYA: "In the name of Shiva." One of the many mantras uttering god names. Any god or goddess name may be used to create a mantra.
ISIS, ASTARTE, DIANA, HECATE, DEMETER, KALIINANNA: A popular Pagan chant of Goddess names, from Charlie Murphy's record "The Burning Times." Subsequent verses can be added to this, for the God: NEPTUNE, OSIRIS, MERLIN, MANANON, HELIOS, SHIVA-HORNED ONE. (The dash indicates a slight pause.)
THE EARTH, THE WATER, THE FIRE, AND THE AIRRETURN, RETURN, RETURN, RETURN: Along the same lines as the Goddess mantra above, this is also a ritual chant for acknowledging the elements.
There are thousands of chants and mantras from different cultures and religions around the world. Some have similarities of tone and rhythm while others do not. The deepest value of a mantra has to do with how much we invest in it-how much we use the sound in our meditations, in our work, in our thoughts throughout the day. If many people use a common mantra, then the sound collects resonance on the subtle planes and becomes more potent. Each time we use a mantra we become more entrained with it.
While there are mantras that have been used for centuries to create particular effects, there is nothing wrong with making up your own mantras. Affirmations, put into the form of a mantra, have a more powerful effect, for in any language, words are a form of the object's internal structure. Thus, the affirmation, "I will be strong" carries within it the particular aspects of strength we are seeking. However, the affirmation, "I am strong!" creates even more strength by only a slight change of words. Mantras must be chosen carefully to create the effects we want. Mantras have long been a secret esoteric tradition in most mystical schools. Their power is subtle and is usually not even detected by the insens
itive or uninitiated. Their power is felt through experience only. Their use employs only the simple "idiot-proof " technique of repetition, and their benefits can be felt by any sincere seeker. They are a basic, fundamental key allowing human beings to unlock some of the mysteries of our own inner harmony.
Vowel Sounds and the Chakras
The seed sounds for each chakra listed previously only differ in their consonants, so the sustained sound of the vowel of each seed sound is the same (except chakra six). What I have found to be far more effective for resonating the chakras is working with various vowel sounds. While research has shown differences from one system to another, the following list represents the most common correlation of different systems. You can best validate this by chanting the sounds yourself, and experiencing which chakras seem to vibrate with which sounds. Feel free to experiment. Your own chakras may resonate to slightly different tones.
These sounds are equally effective, if not more so, when used as a silent mantra or as a meditation device. Pick the chakra or chakras you want to work on most and use the vowel sounds to help awaken them.
TELEPATHY
The key to the mastery is always silence, at all levels, because in the silence we discern the vibrations and to discern them is to be able to capture them.
-Sri Aurobindo21
Telepathy is the art of communicating across time and space without using any of the "normal" five senses. There are relatively few people adept at this form of communication, yet it is something we all respond to on a subliminal level. With a well-developed fifth chakra this type of communication becomes accessible.
As we learn to refine our chakras, calm our minds, and quiet our thoughts, the fabric of our consciousness becomes smoother and smoother. Our vibrations become steadier and our perceptions more direct. In this state it is far easier to become aware of the subtler ripples of vibrations in our energy field. The quieter levels of telepathic communication become apparent when the grosser vibrations of our lives are no longer creating interference.
Let us make an analogy of telepathic communication by amplifying our phenomenon. If you're at a noisy party where everyone is talking at once, music is playing loudly, and people are dancing, you'll have to raise your voice considerably to have any kind of conversation. If, for some strange reason, your partner is only whispering, you won't hear her at all. In order to hear her whispering, you'd have to be in a silent room, where there were few or no interference patterns to your communication.
Telepathy could be defined as the art of hearing the whispers of another's mind. In order to do this, we must be quiet within our own minds. Most of us, by nature, have a party going on inside our own heads. We're always conversing with ourselves or running tapes through our heads. When added to the usual din around us, this dulls the receptivity of the fifth chakra. We're accustomed to using technological devices to send our messages beyond the limits of our voices. We're not accustomed to listening for the subtle stirs in the ether that can bring us communication across time and space.
And why should we be? Isn't gross, physical communication more accurate, more specific, and less subject to loss or error? If you send a telepathic message, how can you be sure it's received? Or received accurately?
Consciousness is not really a verbal process. In order to communicate, we must translate our consciousness into a symbolic structure. In order to receive the communication, we must translate symbols back into consciousness. While this may seem instantaneous, we are downgrading consciousness from its purer form. As any linguist knows, the essence of a communication is often distorted in translation.
Seen in this light, telepathic communication can be more precise and immediate than verbal communication, which can often contain lies and omissions.
While few people are really adept at this form of communication, there are even fewer people who have never experienced it at all. Two people saying the same thing at the same time, finding a busy signal because your friend is simultaneously calling you, or getting the psychic hit that a family member is in danger are a few examples of the common ways telepathy can occur.
If we accept the ether as a connective field of gross and subtle vibrations, then communication occurs through a perceptible alteration in that field. Telepathic communication is merely a subtler alteration, perceptible only when the grosser vibrations are quieted. Telepathy may result when two or more minds are rhythm-entrained such that a variation in the pattern of one rhythm results in a similar variation in the other. Entrained rhythms increase the amplitude of the wave. A wave of higher amplitude has more potency, more chance of being heard.
Whatever the explanation, examples of telepathic communication indicate a kind of mental connectivity floating through the ether that permits an exchange of information on a non-physical plane. As thoughts become more and more dense, they begin to manifestthey are recognized by one mind, then two, and become denser and denser until they are real. The old adage that "thoughts are things" becomes believable.
Whether we are initiators or receivers, there is little doubt that there exists some medium through which we can tap into a realm where the vibrations of minds converge. Through the refinement of our chakras and attention to the vibrational world that surrounds and creates us, we can gain access to this unifying level of consciousness. As we approach the upper chakras, we approach a universality of mind transcending the physical limitations of time and space that keep us separate. We need not create it. We need only to quiet our minds and listen. It is already there, and we are already playing a part in it. We can choose to make that part conscious.
CREATIVITY
Communication is a creative process. The more adept we are at this art, the more creative the process becomes. A young child, when first learning to speak, merely mimics his parents' words. Soon, however, the child understands that certain words bring particular results and he begins to experiment. As his vocabulary grows, the child has more and more elements with which he can become creative. He begins to use words, sounds, and gestures to create his reality- as he will for the rest of his life.
While many people have associated creativity with the second chakra, (since that's where we create babies) I believe creativity is ultimately a form of expression, related to chakra five. Creating life in the womb is not a conscious process. We do not decide to make fingers or toes, blue eyes or brown. While the emotional states of the second chakra may fuel creative impulses, it takes will (chakra three)" and abstract consciousness (upper chakras in general) to create.
The arts have always existed on the turning edge of culture. Be they visual, auditory, kinesthetic, dramatic, or even literary, the arts, precisely by their nonregimented, nonconformist character are able to reach into the vast uncharted realm of the future and illustrate ideas and concepts in a way that affects consciousness on an immediate and whole brain level.
In the words of Marshall McLuhan, master analyst of media:
I am curious to know what would happen if art were suddenly seen for what it is, namely, exact information of how to rearrange one's psyche in order to anticipate the next blow from our own extended faculties .... The artist is always engaged in writing a detailed history of the future because he is the only person aware of the nature of the present.23
Art forms are generally more abstract than any other forms of communication. Leaving room for the imagination, they invite participation of the most innovative components of our consciousness. Saying less, perhaps we can hear more. As we approach the more abstract planes of consciousness, it is only fitting that we turn to our more abstract means of communication in order to embrace these planes.
The process of creation is a process of inner discovery. In creating a work of art, we open ourselves to the very mysteries of the universe. We become channels for spiritual information, learning a language more universal than human tongues.
The process of creativity is a delicate one. Regimented lives do not lend themselves to it, and are instea
d threatened by it. Creativity releases our inner power much as language "releases the unknown from limbo, making it so the whole brain can know it . 1114
Presently there is a new birth of therapies utilizing the creative process. Using visual art, psychodrama, movement, dance, and the calming effect of music, one can access the deeper and generally healthier regions of the mind and body while releasing the inner frustrations that fragment our wholeness.
Survival and health in the twenty-first century will require innovation and flexibility. Creativity is the key to unlocking these qualities. We must honor it in ourselves and in each other. We must honor the means which make it possible and protect ourselves from those phenomena which threaten to shut down this basic life force. Our very future depends upon it.
MEDIA
Television, radio, newspapers, and other public forms of communication can be seen as the cultural expression of the fifth chakra, acting as a connecting nervous system for us all. If communication is the passage of knowledge and understanding, the mass content of our collective consciousness is, for better or worse, heavily influenced by the media and those who control it. Whether we are forced to hear about a politician's private sex life, made to look at countless murders on television, or hear honest data about the environment, the media directs the public attention to archetypal themes that they deem to be of concern to public consciousness. Media directs our attention, and where the attention goes, the rest of the energy generally follows. If media feels violence is more appropriate for our children to watch than lovemaking, they are setting cultural values for us all.
Media is also the most potent means we have of cultural transformation. Media can be a potent feedback system, allowing us to see ourselves as we are-in our beauty and our ignorance. It was the pictures on the news of the Vietnam war that allowed people to get it touch with its atrocities, while it was still going on, and create the anti-war protests. Media lets us know the state of the planet's ecology, the condition of people in other places, and helps wire up the global brain.
Wheels of Life Page 21