nAdOpAsana and nAdOpAsaka

[vgovindan]

'nAdOpAsana' and 'nAdOpAsaka' - have greater relevance than 'music'. Music is only an aspect of 'nAda'. In this regard, I hereby give two links which gives general idea as to what 'nAdOpAsana' means.

http://www.arunachala-ramana.org/forum/ ... pic=2492.0
http://www.svbf.org/journal/vol1no2/nada.pdf

Anyone with musical and lyrical knowledge can be a 'vAggEyakkAra'; but 'nAdOpAsaka', encompass 'vAggEyAkkAra' and much more.

V Govindan

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks Sri. Govindan for the links.

The concept of 'anahata' nada that Sri. T.S. Parthasarathy writes is interesting. Quoting him from the second link above

Nada admits of the division of Ahata and Anahata, the former being the sound
produced by the conscious effort of man and the latter, the nada that
is heard without conscious effort like the music of the spheres.
.....
The psyche sings eternally the immortal song of absolute music, which is formless and
colorless in essence and yet represents the infinite

I am naturally attracted to such ideas, my inclination on such matters is along that axis as we discussed quite a while back in this thread: http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 443#p86443

The way I understood 'anahata nada' is, similar to how we use icons for abstract and formless entities, 'sounded' nada - the one we call as music - is conceived of as an 'icon' for the soundless 'anahata' nada. Profound indeed.

Thanks.

[vgovindan]

'sounded' nada - the one we call as music

May be we have discussed this earlier also.

Music, as is known today, is a gradual development from 'praNava nAda' - as SrI tyAgarAja would put (praNava nAdamu sapta svaramulai paraga - the sound of praNava (OM) has transformed into sapta svara - 'mOkshamu galadA' - sAramati). Further, the progressive manner in which sound is produced in the body has been described as four stages - parA - paSyantI - madhyamA - vaikharI - the last being the articulated sound.

Further SrI tyAgarAja states 'mUlAdhAraja nAdameruguTE ..... kOlAhala sapta svara gRhamula gurutE mOkshamurA' (svara rAga sudhA - SankarAbharaNaM) (the knowledge (experiential knowledge) of nAda arising from mUlAdhAra and 'knowledge' of abodes of the sapta svara (in the body) is indeed liberation).

In this regard, the following links about progression of sound in our body and the development of music may be referred -
http://www.naadhabrahmam.com/marga_desi.asp
http://www.krishnamurthys.com/profvk/go ... 26-30.html (Page 30 on parA-paSyantI...)

However, I have a doubt whether ahata nAda (articulated sound) can be called truly cosmic in nature. The reason is that sound waves require a medium to be propagated. Such a medium can exist only in a 'earth-like' environment and not in 'empty' space where only light waves seem to exist. From that point of view, only manifested forms - like human beings - living in an environment like that of earth - can only perceive ahata nAda.

However, anAhata nAda - unarticulated sound - may, in my opinion, belong to the category of vibrations which can be perceived even without a medium. The very fact that an assertion has been made by our ancestors about existence of anAhata nAda would need more scientific investigation. Then the meaning of 'nAda' - whether it is 'sound' as we understand through our perceptions will need analysis.

Probably this is what called 'nAda brahmam', 'Sabdha brahamam'- vibrational nature of brahmam. And methods of experiencing That is called 'nAda yOga', 'nAda vidyA' and 'nAdOpAsana'. (nAda - the mellifluous form of Sabdha and not necessarily 'word' - language being later development).

[Rsachi]

Sir,
I am a nobody and have not explored this subject like you may have.
But my understanding, rooted in Bhagavadgita, is as follows:
1. What we call God or Brahman, is both Purusha (supreme consciousness) and also Prakriti (five elements and all composite creation including us)
2. All activity or Karma has as its final destination self-realization.
3. Shabda or Ahata nAda is vibration - it includes all vibration, including in spaces where it is not perceived via a medium as sound.
4. Music is a path of worship through the auditory medium involving voice, instruments etc.
5. The ultimate destination of music is silence.
6. anAhata nAda or cosmic sound is beyond the senses but it is an experience for consciousness. It is an aspect of what we call turIya state (beyond sleep, wakefulness and dream).
7. The sound of OM as we chant it is a paradigm for that super state of experiencing that cosmic soundless sound.
8. Music without awareness and inward focus is an external activity however enjoyable. It will also, eventually, take us inward, through the process of cosmic design or divine grace. Thus everyone is destined to experience anAhata nAda sooner or later!

[vgovindan]

Spanda, Scriabin and the Inner Nature of Music

"The entire universe and its ever-present process of creation is an ever-emergent symphony of Spanda - arising from 'slight movements' within the ultimate tension and primordial tone present within that inner sound and silence - a tension spanning the realms of potentiality and actuality, and in this way also giving birth to infinite creative possibilities.

The realm of possibility finds expression not only in everyday life, but also in the arts - not least music itself. Beethoven composed nine symphonies. If we take but one of these - the famous 5th symphony for example - there are four important reasons why this cannot be said to be merely 'one' symphony of Beethoven's at all, not even one created 'by' Beethoven.

Firstly, like all works of art, a symphony or piece of music first emerges into awareness from the realm of potentiality in a way that can find countless different possible expressions. The work of artistic 'composition' is essentially a work of carefully and selectively choosing between or interweaving these multiple possibilities or 'variations' in order to arrive at final poem, painting or musical score.

Secondly, any given creative potentiality of awareness can find expression in different possible art forms and media. Hypothetically then, Beethoven's 5th could have been actualised as a poem or painting, just (as) a painting of Van Gogh or Rembrandt could have been actualised as a symphony!

Thirdly and just importantly, there are in truth as many '5th symphonies' of Beethoven (and of any symphony or piece of music) as there are conductors and performances of them, most of which are so different in their fundamental tone or 'mood' - and in the range and nature of the 'feelings tones' they communicate through the symphony - that it cannot be said to be the 'same' symphony at all.

Performances given by 'poor' conductors do not just arise through lack of adequate musical knowledge, skills or expertise, either on their part or that of the orchestras they lead. Instead what characterises a 'poor' conductor is that his or her own range of 'inner tones and chords of feeling' is not as deep or rich as those of the composer - these tones and chords of feelings which were the very source of the music. As a result, such a conductor, however technically skilled, cannot let the real music resound through their performances of it - the music of 'feeling tone'.

Many people, even many musicians, musicologists or music lovers, still think of music merely as a particular form of physical sound vibration. As a result they are constantly asking how music can come to affect our feelings - and seek answers from brain scientists. Yet the question itself of how music can affect our feelings is a false one, since all audible music emerges from the music of 'feeling tone' - from patterned tonalities of 'feeling awareness'.

Feeling tones are neither audible sound tones nor emotional feelings, and yet they are the source of both. It is only because even musicians and musicologists lack the very notion of feeling tone that they are forced to speak metaphorically of 'tone colours' - even though 'colour' is but one among many possible sensual qualities and manifestations of feeling tone. The real question is therefore not how music comes to affect our feelings but what 'music' itself essentially is.

For though audible music may set our body into 'resonatory' vibration through the oscillation of sound waves (in) the air, it can do so without any 'felt resonance' with music 'as such' ie. with the silent tones of feeling it expresses and communicates. Yet it is these silent tones of feeling awareness that are the essence or 'soul' of music - and the source of all musical and vocal tones.

The musical essence and mystery of 'Spanda' resounds in both Indian and European music - and yet perhaps found its ultimate creative expression in the masterwork of Russia's most 'spiritual and sensual' composer - the mystical genius Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915).

Called 'Mysterium' this supreme work was never completed in his life time - and took his student Nemtin over 30 years of dedicated work to reconstruct it from Scriabin's notes.

The performance of 'Mysterium' was envisaged by Scriabin (himself a theosophist and student of Indian spiritual traditions) to take the form of spiritual ceremony lasting seven days and nights, and planned to take place in a specially designed temple in the Indian Himalayas.

There it would unite symphonic music with a solo piano, hanging bells, dance, theatre and poetry. The music was to be synchronised with colour lighting and to engage all the senses including sound, sight and the wafting scent of perfumes and incense.

The aim was not only to dissolve the division between orchestra, chorus, singers, text and audience - but to both herald, evoke and enact a profound spiritual transfiguration of human consciousness and humankind.

Now fully realised and recorded in its (entirety) - meditating the Mysterium is a gateway to the experience of 'Spanda'.

Do not take my word for it, just listen to it with these new 'Spanda Karikas' in mind. Then you will not only understand but experience the primordial tension of being and non-being actuality and potentiality that is the ultimate mystery of cosmic creation - 'Spanda'."

(Appendix 1 of 'The New Spanda Karikas' by Acharya Peter Wilberg)

The complete pdf file may be downloaded from http://www.thenewyoga.org/spanda_karikas_e-book.pdf

[uday_shankar]

Govindan sir,

This is a profoundly interesting topic but is entirely spiritual. Some random thoughts…

As far as anAhata nAda, maybe we should not try to ascribe the notion of some physical "wave" that passes through space like light "waves" or sound “waves”. Words like "vibration", "waves", etc have very different connotations in different contexts. Even in our own culture, for example, surely the word “jyOti” does not convey physical light as from a fluorescent light bulb, when used in the context of self-realization ?!

Physics is pedestrian and an entirely sensual/intellectual (sometimes we use "super" senses like telescopes and microscopes!) subject that presupposes the world view known as shrishti-dhrishti vAda, i.e., the theory of gradual creation. So we have a gradual unfolding of the universe, in “space” and “ time”, with energy being transformed into particles, atoms, molecules, galaxies, stars, planets, atmospheres, cells, plants, animals, humans, consciousness, etc. over billions of years. This same worldview is supported by the western/Semitic religions, although they stipulate that a God created this from scratch, in time and space, at some point in the past. But the core, belief, i.e., the theory of a gradual creation in space and time is the same.

The truly vedantic world views side step these conundrums…by way the Dhrishti-Shrishti vAda or better still, ajAta vAda or the theory of non creation. In Dhristi-Shristi vAda, the universe is recreated every time the mind passes into the jAgrat or waking state. Excellent explanations dismissing the argument of the persistence of the waking universe between successive waking states as granting some preeminence to that state over the swapna or shushupti states are available in “Maharshi’s gospel”, containing conversations with Shri Ramana Maharshi.
So in these world views, an individual mind that is awake tries to peer behind the mysterious chit-jada granthi into THAT which is behind space and time, the Atma. I deliberately use the word “behind” rather than “beyond” because THAT awareness IS…here and now. The “beyond” conveys a sense of space and the word “before”, a sense of time. The Truth is always here and now, neither beyond nor before.

So anAhata “nAda” could be from THAT same source which is behind all. Then the quest for it would have nothing to do with anything in the manifest physical world, like “waves”, “vibrations” or music. Perhaps it is an inward quest by the individual, perhaps the same as self-realization.

There are these famous lines from a John Keat’s poem, Ode to a Grecian Urn:

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

[vgovindan]

"...we must examine the objectives behind the pursuit of music. The primary role of Carnatic music is stimulating human emotions. The music appeals to us because of its inspirational influence on our inner spiritual forces. Saint Tyagaraja describes this phenomenon as Nadopasana. He explains the concept of Nadopasana in several of his compositions (e.g. Nada Thanum Anisam, Sobhillu Saptha Swara, Nadopasana, and Swara Raga Sudha). He describes Nadopasana as, 'Merungutaye Mudamagu Mokshamura' or music that leads to the realization of the existence of blissful heaven. When viewed from this focus, the subjective, inductive, and inspirational attributes of music appear more important than the scientific dimension.

Before we conclude that music is purely a fine art and the scientific aspects are less important, we must ask a few questions. Can music be pleasing if there were no grammar or rules pertaining to swara singing, alapana or neraval expositions? Would rasikas be satisfied if a concert performance is devoid of all aesthetics? How would music sound if laya or thala is no longer necessary? Since it is based on sound, can the rules of acoustics be ignored? The answer obviously is a resounding 'no'. We need kalpana swaras because they contribute to bhava. We need laya and thala because they impose order. In their absence, music will lose both harmony and melody and it be unwise to call them music. When viewed from this focus, the objective and rational attributes of music appear more important than the artistic or emotional dimension."

'Art and Science for Nadopasana' - http://www.chennailivenews.com/music-se ... y=features

"Not a parrot-like repetition of words, not a masterly rendering of music perfectly set to scale and rhythm, but singing with the heart, playing on the inner veena on the strings of bhakti and love alone will enable you to enter into the spirit of a nada yogi."

'Music Yoga' (nAda yOga) by Swami Sivananda - http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2009/fj ... usic.shtml

A striking contrast!

[rajeshnat]

Lovely writeup of Dr Ram shriram

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks Govindan for those links. Rajesh, I agree, Dr. Shriram's clarity in his writing makes it a joy to read.

I think the general idea that emotional lakshya is rooted in the lakshaNa has many parallels in other fields as well. For the creator of anything, both lakshaNa and lakshya are necessary and sufficient where as for the receiver, user or rasika, lakshya aspects alone are sufficient and lakshaNa is not a strict necessity.

As a parallel, the main job of, say, a smart phone engineers and designers, is to hide all the complexity of computers and software ( lakshaNa ) so the end user has a pleasant experience using it for their purpose ( lakshya ).

In music, the place of smart phone engineers and designers place is taken by the composers, musicologists and artists. They definitely have to care about both but as rasikas, like the iPhone users, we only care about the overall effect and the simple interface to all that complexity, at whatever level of music we tap into. Of course, many of us CM rasikas here try to pierce through the veil and try to see what is behind it all, but we all know that it is not necessary for the enjoyment of music.

It is a good thing in keep in mind that the "interface" and "implementation" are two different things. Here lakshya is the interface and the lakshaNa is the implementation. There can be many interfaces to the same implementation. There can be a single interface to many implementations. Both have their places.

It is perfectly fine to concern oneself only with the interface. For most people, it is the right thing to do. In fact, in many fields including software design, one of the major practices to tackle complexity is to keep that distinction in mind. When you press that button to call an elevator, you do not care which manufacturer made that elevator, that is an implementation detail. The up and down buttons are the interface.

Relating this back to our topic here, one need to ponder this: Is the abstract concepts like Brahman a concern of 'implementation" or "interface".

Intellectualizing about the true nature of Brahman is equivalent to piercing through the veil to see the details of implementation. May be that is reserved for a very few, may be it is reserved just for Brahman and no one else. Brahman is the musicologist, composer and artist of the cosmos and we the rasikas need to only listen and per-take in the music that emanates from that cosmos without necessarily understanding the mechanisms behind it all.

The elevator example above shows that there are different implementations behind a single interface. That is how we have learned to conquer the complexity inherent in our physical world. To comprehend the other worldly matters, the opposite is needed. That one implementation is accessed through several interfaces: Music, Bhakthi, Meditation, Dharmic Karma etc.

[Rsachi]

The correct word is lakshya...meaning goal or target in Sanskrit.
lakshaNa mean characteristic (or method or process or property)

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks Sachi. Fixed the spelling of those two words.

[munirao2001]

With developed and developing intelligence, humans have the desire to unravel the unknown element for sense of security of life and its perpetuation,after life. Thinking, communication, acceptance and endorsement leads to conclusions. Authority is established. All subsequent interpretations will be based on established authority. Our desire for ready and quick fix solutions and lack of commitment to invest in inquiry in search of facts-not truths-resulted in glorification and declarations, as the ultimate or ultimate authority. To establish, magic, mythology or power is used for subjugation. All are in the realm of speculation only. Search and find the source for bliss or mere pleasures or happiness and support all the other living beings also to partake bliss, pleasure or at least happiness.
munirao2001

[Shivadasan]

An interesting site on a saint practising Nada Yoga or Divine sound Meditation
http://www.divineomdasjisoundmeditation ... blications
The following article analyses the effects of Divine sound Meditation
http://www.ijbst.org/Home/papers-publis ... edirects=0
Low Decibel Power Infrasound in Divine Sound Meditation
By Neela Iyer, A.Prabhu Britto, R.Satyasundari, D.Saraswady, A.Nagappan, N.Malmurugan and Dhyanyogi Omdasji Maharaj

[vgovindan]

http://www.academia.edu/2486876/Music_a ... _Gandharva

When I commented in a lateral post that "...someday, somewhere, someone will come up who understands true significance of music...", I was not speaking in vacuum. Please see the excerpts from a research article on 'Music and the Muse - An Identity for Kumar Gandharva". (For complete article, please refer to link given above)

"The folk do not sing in the strict sense. They are telling things to each other and this speech sounds like song…. A folk tune does not have Raga, what it has are the seeds of feeling…."

“…while there was a flexibility with respect to Kumar on the characteristics of Gharana, he was inflexible in his vision of what music should be, boundless, beyond frontiers and paradigms."

"Often in the musical tradition one is taught that the lyrics or the poetry of the work is subservient to the mood of the raga. That means every "khayal‟ or "bandish‟ of a raga should sound like the raga from which it is born and not have a distinct identity of its own. Kumarji was among one of the few people who dared to challenge this fixity. For him every lyrical form had its own life and needed to be honored for its own sake, and not alone the sake of the raga."

"His Raga Vistara took on the lineaments of the Bandish on account of which the Raga has come to exist. So he showed the possibilities the Raga in that particular embodiment of the Bandish he had chosen to sing. This was the consequence of a highly developed and delicate literary grasp of the nature of the words of a language and the way they are spoken while being sung."

Who is that Kumar Gandharva of Carnatic Music?

"enta muddO enta sogasO?
evarivalla varNimpa tagunE!"

[vgovindan]

Please listen to Kumar Gandharva - 'sunta hai guru gyani' (kabir's Mystique song) referred to in my previous post -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOAGTsWkhrw

The lyrics and meaning thereof -
http://guanaguanaresingsat.blogspot.com ... hajan.html

[munirao2001]

vgovindan
""Often in the musical tradition one is taught that the lyrics or the poetry of the work is subservient to the mood of the raga. That means every "khayal‟ or "bandish‟ of a raga should sound like the raga from which it is born and not have a distinct identity of its own. Kumarji was among one of the few people who dared to challenge this fixity. For him every lyrical form had its own life and needed to be honored for its own sake, and not alone the sake of the raga."
Performer uses the lyrics for expression of bhava based on the best suited part of the raga/raga swaroopa - externalizing- up to a point of reaching the powerful and pure Nadotpathi or Nada, itself, bereft of lyric-internalized moments of creativity and expressing it, free of blemish. Such ecstatic-divine moments of abhedabhava is Self abnegation- the bliss, re energizing and creating craving for such moments in recall and capable of achieving to the same extent or almost to the same extent, after we realize such moments. It is free from Sabda-word/lyric, but Pranava or Om kara Nada.

munirao2001

[vgovindan]

An interesting e-book 'The Cosmic Octave' by Hans Cousto is available here for download -

http://longfiles.com/hq3bks6v9p8r/The_C ... e.pdf.html

[vgovindan]

"The big difference between human happiness and sadness is just 37 vibrations" -

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_tilson ... _time.html