PART 4: Dive Into It!

The following concludes this series on the power of chanting.

Great saints like Mirabai, Narsinh Mehta, Tukaram, Chaitanya-mahaprabhu, and many more chanted all their lives and were victorious over life and the world, and many merged with God with their physical bodies. Such is the power of chanting. Guruji always chanted mentally. His fingers would always tap to the beat of the Lord in His heart. Every night in Bandhwad, and often in other towns, He would always have disciples or invite groups to come chant, and so often He would be so choked up with emotion over his love for the Lord. For the disciples present it felt like He was filling their hearts with compassion and love. It was as if He, the ocean of compas­sion, was inviting the little rivers of His disciples to merge with him, the ocean of Love. He often told us that we should always pray to the Lord so that we may never forget His Bhajan (chanting).

Just as ash or powder is used to polish a vessel, similarly chanting is a priceless tool to purify the body and mind and bring out the light of the soul. As you chant, the name, Nama-smaran, is heard and the ears carry the energy to the brain, where the mind grasps it. The mind is interlinked with the prana, which in turn is intensified all over the body and cleanses it at all levels. Many healings are known to occur through chanting. At the same time, the mind transmits the energy to the intellect, then to the ego, and finally the Soul itself. The Soul is the doer, the cause of all action. Therefore it reflects upon the en­ergy of the chant and with a greater force of energy, sends it back through the ego, intellect, mind, prana, body and all of these are filled with peace, joy, truth, and love. In this way, both internally and externally, there is a unique level of cleansing. The mind, ego, and intellect together form the chitta – the Antah-karana (the hidden instrument) where all samskaras lie. The chanting removes these blocking samskaras and desires, which cause one to con­tinue through the cycle of life and death. Thus through chanting the door to liberation is opened.

In humans, childbirth has been experienced to be quick and painless through the power of chanting. Cows are known to give more milk when exposed to the sound of chanting. Even plants appear greener and give more fruit in an environment of chants. Wild animals have been seen to give up their tamasic (dark) tendencies due to the power of chanting.

One has to dive into chanting in order to experience its beauty and gain its benefits. Its significance is endless.