Chanting: The Healing Side of Devotion

by Alan L. Pritz

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jn: 1:1

It was 1984, I was 28, and I'd just "come through the wringer". Life had dropped some "karmic bombs" on my head and I was still shoveling out from the debris. It was during this time that I decided to pursue a dream of immersing myself in meditation and spiritual practice. So I went west and, for the next 6 years, absorbed myself in yogic training and healing practices.

A profound lesson I received from this experience concerned the curative power of positive, spiritually rich, environment. As many can imagine, life traumas aren't always easy to shake, but they can be resolved, especially when Spirit is involved. In my case, this clearly proved true. As such, it's become part of my journey and has allowed me to feel more compassion towards others, and to know that inner healing is always possible.

A key feature of my training involved a twice-daily routine of hatha yoga, chanting, and meditation. While not everyone has time or inclination to do so much, real benefit exists even in lessor amounts. Many people are currently aware of hatha yoga and meditation, yet devotional chanting is something not common to most western audiences. Even the concept can raise eyebrows. If people are familiar with it, it's often from exposure to Gregorian, Tibetan, or other traditional chant forms. Each is a musical way of approaching the Divine. After all, every culture has some lyrical or melodic complement to its worship. On one level this is appealing from a purely aesthetic point of view. From a deeper spiritual perspective, the use of voice and musical tone is a very potent tool. As Paramhansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi put it:

"Sound or vibration is the most powerful force in the universe. Music is a divine art, to be used not only for pleasure but as a path to God-Realization. Vibrations resulting from devotional singing lead to attunement with the Cosmic Vibration or the Word".

Chanting isn't like typical song. It's a tool to focus the mind and open the heart. Simply versed and repetitive, each time chants are sung the singer should go deeper inside the cave of the heart. They are love songs from soul to Spirit. In this lay their power; to lift the mind and heart from worldly fixation and place them on the higher ground of meditation. Chanting sets the stage for spiritual inner communion like baking a cake precedes icing.

The impact of chanting is very real and blissful. However, it takes full immersion to activate. Haphazard singing won't do. You must give your all for chanting to reveal its power. Here's are two examples:

Years ago I was leading some college students in chanting when one approached me and said she just wasn't getting it. I suggested she set aside her intellectual walls and simply sing from the soul. Afterwards she came up with tears in her eyes and said, "I got it!" Indeed, she had.

When Yogananda introduced chanting at Carnegie Hall years ago, a disciple warned that western audiences wouldn't go for it, that it was too foreign. The "advice" was ignored and two hours later found the audience divinely intoxicated and with many cases of spiritual healing subsequently reported.

As implied, the goal of chanting, as with any yoga activity, is union of soul with Spirit. On an esoteric level, chanting brings energy to the heart center thereby helping us to disengage our awareness from lower chakra concerns. As the heart opens, consciousness rises to centers of divine perception. In this way, by combining the hearts' love with soul yearning, we harness life force to mental focus and achieve two things: to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." Mark 12:30 and subsequently, to achieve deep mental/emotional, and spiritual healing.

Being unfamiliar with chanting isn't bad. There's theory and then there is practice. Theory doesn't do a thing for you. Only by practicing chanting can one can feel its benefits. Though from eastern roots, the focus of chanting is non-denominational. In my weekly chanting and meditation sessions at Pathways, a crisis resource and alternative healing center in Uptown, I use the Yogananda format but in a non-secular fashion. As such I've been privileged to host people of diverse faiths; Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Wiccan, Hindu, even Secular Humanists. All have enjoyed the sustenance derived from this practice. And, one of the best ways to do so is by following it with meditation. Together, these tools can enrich inner healing and spiritual growth tremendously.

For those who wish to explore chanting further, I suggest they listen to different styles to see what suits them best. Many are sung in different languages but that may intrigue, not deter listeners. Two popular chant CD's, Chant & Krishna Das: Live on Earth, are sung in Latin and Hindi respectively. I also just released a CD, Joy of the Soul: Cosmic Chants with a selection of chants in English from the Yogananda tradition. It represents a certain repetitive, affirmative style and is easy to sing along with.

Available for $15 at all Cheapo/Applause stores, Orr Books, The Ruminator, and Present Moment, the CD, as reviewed by the Minnesota Wellness Directory, "is definitely worth checking out. A soothing, uplifting compliment to your spiritual journey, it offers what people are looking for, an enjoyably heartfelt connection to Spirit." Regardless of what tongue you sing in, if you recognize the power of melodic verse to uplift and inspire, you owe it to yourself to give chanting a try.