On a recent Sunday morning, I got up early to attend a two and a half hour Vedic chanting workshop with Nicolai Bachman of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was appearing at the yoga studio where I teach meditation. I had some time before leaving for the workshop so I decided to read. I took out my Kindle and pulled up Supernatural, by Graham Hancock.
According to Hancock, 50,000 years ago mankind made an abrupt change from beings with no art, no sophisticated symbolism, no religion, into recognizable humans with creative abilities, innovative thinking, and contact with the spirit world.Hancock’s thesis is that this change in the human mind came about through the use of hallucinogenic plants. Rather than viewing the brain as an organ that creates fantastic images while under the stimulation of such plants, Hancock (and others) contend that the brain opens channels to other realities, hence contact with the spirit world, hence the birth of religion in its initial form of shamanism.
Writes Hancock: “By this reckoning, hallucinogens and other means of inducing altered states of consciousness work by temporarily ‘re-tuning’ the brain to pick up frequencies, dimensions and entities that are completely real in their own way but that are normally inaccessible to us.”
I read for about half an hour, then headed to the workshop. Nicolai began by going over pronunciations and tones of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. He also discussed some basics about Vedic chanting, noting that these chants are considered the oldest form of oral tradition on the planet, pre-dating written language.
We spent most of an hour focusing on one simple six-word chant. We repeated the six words over and over again, linearly and in various patterns, such as 1-2 1-2, 2-1 2-1, 2-3 2-3 3-2 3-2 etc, and 1-2-3 3-2-1 2-3-4 4-3-2, etc. It’s kind of complicated…and it goes on and on.
Here are those six words 1) osadhayah 2) sam 3) vadante 4) somena 5) saha 6) rajna. (Pronunciation and tone markings above some of the letters aren’t included.)
Now here’s the synchronicity. Here’s what the Osadhaya chant means:
Plants converse with soma, the king.
Before we started the chant, Nicolai explained that the ancients imbibed sacred plants that connected them with other dimensions and realities where they obtained knowledge. Of course, I thought, ‘Wow, did I not just read that same thing in a text unrelated to Vedic chanting before coming here?’
So we began the chant, over and over and over, changing patterns, over and over and over. And I was out there in an altered, re-tuning the brain…without ayahuasca, imboga, or mescaline, just chant.
I own several CDs of various types of chants. All of them are lovely, and all of them put me very easily into an altered state of consciousness. I find them very, very healing and soothing. We lived near a Benedictine Monastery in GA, and from time to time I would go and sit in the upper level of their cathedral (the only place the public could go in terms of their buildings, but we could roam their beautiful grounds) and I would listen to their chants. It was more than magical. As Lauren says so succinctly, “enchanting”. Quite literally being in an entirely different dimension, somehow. Ecstasy? Bliss? Wonderland?
Never attended a chanting workshop, that appeals to me. Must look out for something similar in the UK. My chanting has been limited to simple yogic sounds. Interesting post and subject.
Fascinating. Thanks!
The word “enchantment” has its origins in the French word for singing, “chanting”. I think when we sing and breath together we are also entering into a collective form of consciousness that has great transformative power……I think of the rituals of some Native American tribes, where they dance and chant together all night and day, as a form of prayer.
That sure was an interesting thing to do on your birthday. I would love to hear more about your re-tuning.
Many years ago I attended several chanting workshops and I do believe, given that I can still remember how I felt when I would finish, that I was re-tuned. Very interesting synchro!