Nada yoga

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Nada-Yoga ( Sanskrit : नादयोग from nāda (नाद) noise, sound, sound, tone, loud tone, din and from yoga (योग) yoke, connect) is an ancient Indian view, according to which the union with the highest consciousness or the divine is done in itself by listening to a tone.

Nada Yoga wants to use sound vibrations and resonances with which pain-relieving effects on various psychological and spiritual states are to be achieved. It should also serve to increase the level of awareness of the energy centers called chakra .

Philosophical background

Nada Yoga is linked to the worldview of Hinduism and Sikhism . It is based on the assumption that the creation of the universe began with a vibration or sound, often called Om or Aum. In an attributeless state of silence, the divine original sound was present as Asabda (अशब्द) or non-sound, potential sound, and manifested itself at the beginning of creation as the first vibration from which all further vibrations and thus the entire universe unfolded permeates and sustains. This self-manifesting primordial tone, which is not produced by a second, is therefore also called Anahat-Nad (अनाहतनाद), the tone that has not been struck or created. It has an uninterrupted continuity, even if this is latent in phases. Because it is uncreated, it is beginning and endless, i.e. eternal. All created tones emerge from it. If one succeeds in grasping the Anahat-Nad in meditation and tracing it back to its center, from which it continuously flows out, one can arrive at the initial soundless state. This is the goal of nada yoga.

The sacred syllable OM (ॐ) or AUM, which, among other things, symbolizes the uncreated divine original sound, is used in the spoken or thought form as an object of concentration in meditation. In the yoga sutra of Patanjali , an Indian scholar who is said to have lived about 2000 years ago, one can read:

"Repeating this (om) and meditating on its meaning (is the way)."

In the Katha Upanishad , the syllable Om is even seen as the greatest support to achieve the transcendent state. Also in the Mundaka Upanishad, Om is used as a means to unite with the Supreme. Om is likened to a bow shooting the self into the target Brahman where the two become one. However, this attributeless, uncreated state cannot be achieved with the help of a created tone; the spoken Om, Ahat-Nad (created sound), can only indicate the uncreated, toneless Om, Anahat-Nad. It is the anahat-nad, the inner tone independent of external sound waves , which can lead to the highest consciousness and which is used in Nada yoga as a support for concentration. Although always present, it is usually not heard as the attention is generally outward. The inner hearing has to be opened, so to speak. This can be done spontaneously in deep meditation or with the help of a master who gives the student a taste of this tone at initiation so that he knows what to look for.

The ten sounds

According to yoga teaching, there are three energy channels along the spine , Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. At the lower end of these pathways, in the root chakra , Muladhara, there is a physiopsychic energy, the Kundalini , in a latent state. Through yoga and meditation exercises this can be activated and begin to rise in the middle channel, the sushumna. During their ascent, higher states of consciousness can open and the anahat-nad can be heard in the form of different sounds. According to Hindu scriptures, there are ten of these sounds, traditionally named as the sound of chini , chini-chini , ghanta ( hand bell ), shankha ( snail horn ), vina (bow harp), tala ( cymbals ), venu (bamboo flute) , bheri ( kettle drum ), mridangam (tubular drum) and megha (thundercloud). They are also compared to the rustling of the sea, the rustling of the wind, the hum of bees or a clang like a clink of fine glass. If one hears several tones at the same time, one should concentrate on the higher, finer tone, since the more subtle tones correspond to the higher levels of consciousness. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika is also recommended to switch between listening to the finer and the coarser sounds so as to maintain the attention and avoid distractions. However, there is no absolute assignment of the different tones to the different levels of consciousness.

The approach to listening to the Nada is somewhat different for the different traditions. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Nada Bindu Upanishad instruct the yogi to listen to the sound in the right ear. In Surat Shabd Yoga one concentrates on the point bindu, a place between the eyebrows where Ida, Pingala and Sushumna converge. If it is possible to maintain a directed concentration, the "inner ear" opens and the inner sound current can be heard. Although the sound, here called Shabd, comes from above, it may appear as if it is heard with the ears. In Surat Shabd Yoga, the tones heard in the left ear are associated with a negative force and should therefore be avoided. According to Muktananda, however, the founder of Siddha Yoga, the Nada can be heard in both ears, but arises in the area of ​​the Sahasrara, the crown chakra on the vertex. His teacher Bhagawan Nityananda explained that the Nada is not heard in the ear, but in the inner ear, in the inner space.

However, it may make sense to focus on the sound in the right ear, as this stimulates the left hemisphere of the brain, which, according to the hemispherical model of the brain, is responsible for one-point concentration. In addition, activating the left hemisphere creates a positive mood, which may help to maintain concentration over a longer period of time.

At first, the nada may only be heard in complete external silence. To achieve this, you close both ears with your fingers or thumb. Through persistent practice and intense concentration, you can only hear the inner Nada without closing your ears, even in the middle of the street noise or with loud music, as Edward Salim Michael, a Western meditation teacher, practiced. The more intense the concentration, the louder the nada. You can use it as a measuring instrument for the depth of meditation. If the unification is finally reached with the highest consciousness, all tones die and the nameless silence remains.

What makes the Nada so suitable for meditation is its continuity, which helps the practitioner to maintain uninterrupted concentration.

Side effects

An intensive practice of Nada Yoga can result in the practitioner having temporary difficulties falling asleep. Muktananda was sometimes unable to sleep for 14 days in a row, but this did not affect his health. It seemed to him that sleep and nada are, so to speak, mutually exclusive.

Movements of the body such as turning the head or even dancing can manifest themselves spontaneously, as happened to Muktananda and Salim Edward Michael:

"Every now and then the author felt seized by an invisible force that made him dance around his room in a most strange and ecstatic way against his will, while the sounds of heavenly music vibrated in his being."

Even acoustic hallucinations by listening to the nada are possible, as Tenzin Wangyal, a teacher of dzogchen, writes. All of these phenomena are also a reason why the accompaniment of an experienced master is important.

The nada in different traditions

The first written references to the Nada Yoga can be found in Nada Bindu Upanishad that the Rigveda is affiliated, probably v in the second millennium. Was created. It is described in detail how the meditator on the Nada - here called Pranava - goes through several stages until he finally reaches the toneless state and enters the "uncolored one".

In the fourth chapter of Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a yoga text from the 14th century, 43 verses are dedicated to Nada. In them the procedure of Anahata-Nada, which goes back to Gorakhsa Natha , is described.

In Surat Shabd Yoga, a meditation form of the religious Radha Soami movement , which was initiated by Shiv Dayal Singh in India in 1861 , meditation is mainly on light and sound. This movement has its roots in even older traditions. Among other things, it goes back to Kabir , the great Indian mystic and poet of the 15th century. In one of his poems he compares the anahata nad with the unbeaten drum that vibrates in the body.

Also in Dzogchen, a teaching that has its roots in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism and in Tibetan Bon , meditation on the inner self-manifested tone, which goes back to Kündröl Dakpa, among other things, plays an important role.

In Bardo Thödröl (Liberation through hearing in the intermediate state), the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it is described how the deceased experiences the "Pure Truth" as lights and colors that reflect their own nature in the bardo , the intermediate state between death and rebirth. It says:

“From the center of this radiation comes the natural sound of reality, echoing like a thousand thunders that sound at the same time. That is the natural sound of your own real self. "

Western spiritual teachers of the present also discovered this inner tone regardless of the traditions of Nada yoga. Ajahn Sumedho , representative of the Thai forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism, noticed an unfamiliar tone in meditating in 1977 and recognized its usefulness for his spiritual exercises. He called it the tone of silence. In 1981 he started teaching this method as well. He later found that the Buddhist Śūraṅgama Sūtra speaks of this tone as a means of enlightenment: When Buddha Shakyamuni in the gathering of the twenty-five enlightened ones asks the bodhisattva Manjushri which of the presented methods he considers the most suitable, the latter replies, “ That samadhi can best be obtained by using the penetrating tone ”.

Edward Salim Michael, yoga and meditation teacher, whose teaching is not embedded in any tradition, spontaneously discovered the inner tone during his first meditation, which he then used in all his exercises as a support for his concentration and which played a central role for him.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Upanishads, Vol two, Prasna Upanishad . Translation by Swami Nikhilananda. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York 1990. ISBN 0-911206-16-7 . P. 191, V.7., Comment
  2. ↑ The Upanishads, Vol two, Mandukya Upanishad . Translation by Swami Nikhilananda. P. 250.
  3. ↑ Kirpal Singh: Naam or Word. In the beginning was the word . Ruhani Satsang, Anaheim, USA. 1994. ISBN 0-942735-94-3 . P. 20, p. 127 ff.
  4. ^ Maharishi Mehi Paramahansa Ji Maharaj: Philosophy of Liberation . Translation Donald and Veena Howard, Sant Mat Society of North America, 1998. pp. 27 f.
  5. ↑ Maitrayana Brahmaya Upanishad , Prapathaka IV. Translation Max Müller, on the Hinduwebsite.com, verse 22 ff.
  6. ↑ Swami Vivekananda: Raja Yoga, With the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali . Verlag Hermann Bauer, 1978. ISBN 3-7626-0410-X . Chapter 1, verses 27-28.
  7. ↑ The Upanishads, Vol one, Katha Upanishad . Translation by Swami Nikhilananda. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York 1990. ISBN 0-911206-15-9 . I. ii. 17, p. 140
  8. ↑ The Upanishads, Vol one, Mundaka Upanishad . Translation by Swami Nikhilananda. P. 290
  9. ^ Mandukya Upanishad , p. 248
  10. ↑ Yari Sahib in: Kirpal Singh, Naam or Word. In the beginning was the word . P. 11
  11. ↑ Nada Bindu Upanishad , in Thirty Minor Upanishads . English translation K. Narayanaswamy Aiyar, 2014. Published by Evinity Publishing Inc, 2009. Kindle Edition. Verses 33-36.
  12. ^ Maharishi Mehi Paramahansa Ji Maharaj, p. 54
  13. ↑ Edward Salim Michael: The Path of Inner Vigilance . Editor Michèle Michael, France 2015. ISBN 978-1-5059-0462-8 , p. 75
  14. ↑ Swami Svatmarama: Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 14th or 15th century, German text by Yoga Vidya e. V., chapter 4, verses 87-88
  15. ↑ Swami Svatmarama, chap. 4, verse 67
  16. ↑ Nada Bindu Upanishad . Verse 31
  17. ^ Maharishi Mehi Paramahansa Ji Maharaj, pp. 25-29
  18. ↑ Huzur Maharaj Sawan Singh: Spiritual Gems . Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Punjab, India. Pp. 27, 82
  19. ↑ Swami Muktananda, p. 183
  20. ↑ Swami Muktananda, p. 157
  21. ↑ Dr Jacques Vigne: La mystique du silence . Editions Albin Michel SA, Paris, 2003. ISBN 2-226-13811-0 . P. 163 ff.
  22. ^ Edward Salim Michael, p. 286
  23. ↑ Swami Svatmarama, chap. 4, verse 107
  24. ↑ Edward Salim Michael, pp. 74 f.
  25. ↑ Swami Muktananda, p. 182
  26. ↑ Swami Muktananda, p. 183
  27. ^ Edward Salim Michael, p. 273.
  28. ↑ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: Tibetan Yogas of Body, Speech, and Mind . Snow Lion Publications 2011. ISBN 978-1-55939-380-5 . P. 130
  29. ↑ Nada Bindu Upanishad , verses 29-52
  30. ↑ Swami Svatmarama, verse 65
  31. ↑ Constance Jones, James D. Ryan: Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Facts on File, Inc., Infobase Publishing, New York 2007. ISBN 978-0-8160-5458-9 . P. 383
  32. ↑ Shubhra Parashar, Introduction and Translation: Kabir found himself in song. YinYang Media Verlag, Kelkheim 2006. ISBN 978-3-935727-11-2 . P. 31
  33. ^ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, p. 128
  34. ↑ The Tibetan Book of the Dead . Publisher WY Evans-Wentz, into English Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup, into German Louise Göpfert-March, Walter-Verlag, Olten 1981, ISBN 3-530-88001-9 , p. 179 ff.
  35. ^ Ajahn Sumedho: The Sound of Silence . Wisdom Publications, Somerville MA 2007, ISBN 0-86171-515-2
  36. ↑ The Shurangama Sutra . English translation of Upasaka Lu K'uan Yu (Charles Luk), Commentaries Master Han Shan Te-Ch'ing. Ching Chueh Buddhist Association. Chapter 4.3.6
  37. ↑ Michèle Michael: The Price of a Remarkable Fate. Life and Spiritual Path by Edward Salim Michael . ISBN 978-1-5306-6500-6 . P. 80