Does music belong in meditation?

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Listening to music while practicing yoga is more of a controversial idea than you might expect. For some people, it just seems to work; for others, it’s a distraction.What’s most important is to select music that you enjoy listening to and music which serves the purpose you’re trying to achieve. One of the most beneficial effects of almost all sorts of music is to enhance movement. When practising, some poses can feel difficult or uncomfortable, especially while a practitioner is in the earlier stages of learning yoga. Listening to music can increase the sense of grace and ease which is sought, easing transitions between postures and improving the physical benefits. Listening to music while practicing yoga can also help us to relax and not strain. Yoga is about doing our best while we relax and not comparing ourselves with others.Becoming more relaxed with music is an ideal way to do this.

‘Meditation music’ has become a surprisingly popular phrase lately. Surprising because traditionally, music is a distraction which has no place in meditation. Certainly methods which focus on mantras and on breathing are only interrupted by music, but the most popular form of meditation in the West (‘mindfulness’) is totally compatible with music.

Meditation and yoga are different practices, but they’re both related and the impact of different musical qualities is similar in both in terms of helping us to relax. Music can be used as a backdrop which adds context to one’s thoughts and feelings, for example by creating a positive mood and helping us to move past emotional obstacles to mindfulness. Just as when we listen to the sound of a gong, we transcend our thoughts to a state of inner peace. Rather like the way in which when we listen to the sound of a gong we transcend our thoughts to a state of inner peace. 

Musical variation is the repetition of parts of a piece of music in a different form, with e.g. melody or rhythm altered but the bar or phrase is recognisable as something we’ve already heard. Variation tends to increase the extent to which music is ‘interesting,’ giving us more to think about, more to notice. Variation can be insistent; we expect to hear a certain melody repeated, and the subtle difference draws our attention. This can make highly varied music distracting when we’re trying to achieve a state of peace and relaxation. Sacred music tends to be conservative in its variation; designed more to soothe and exalt and not “jump out” at a listener. With less potential for distraction and more consistency, sacred music can be perfect for both yoga and meditation.

Tempo is also a major factor. A bit more self-explanatory than variation, higher tempo creates a sense of energy, excitement and urgency while lower tempo creates a sense of peace and relaxation.Not all meditation, not all yoga aims at relaxation, but it’s a great place to start and is greatly eased by the introduction of pleasant distractions.

Every spiritual tradition is different on the surface, but most spiritual music is concerned either with clearing the mind of unwanted tendencies and cultivating its positive tendencies, by awakening an awareness of and connection to divinity or of refining one’s emotions. Substitute ‘Self’, as in the higher Self, for divinity and sacred music could almost be purpose-built for yoga and meditation.

Music can be used (by some people) to enhance meditation, but may be more valuable for  most people as meditation. As a background, music provides things like emotional bias which could either be considered good, for its power to create a good mood without a strong positive context, or bad because of the way it distracts you from finding a source of happiness within yourself. As a foreground, music can function more like a mantra; providing a content which the mind can focus on in order to edge out other distractions for the purposes of contemplation and reflection. Music can actively improve our ability to reflect, as it enhances memory.

There are as many types of sacred music as there are spiritual traditions in the world, as music is such a part of being human that every tradition (indeed, almost every human group) has developed their own style. On Sacred Music Radio we play music from all traditions, and from performers with no particular affiliation. If you’re looking for something new to enhance your yoga or meditation, or even a way to relax prior to meditation and you’ve never considered playing some background music (or sitting with headphones, hearing every note and every instrument dance together in the darkness behind your eyelids), you might be pleasantly surprised by the results… I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t enjoy music.

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Breaking Barriers

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Spiritual Music as a Means of Promoting Interfaith Harmony

Spiritual music may be underrepresented in modern society, but its importance and potential to contribute to global interfaith harmony are great.

By Michael Vakil Kenton

Music is a fundamental part of humanity, significant in almost every human life. Music can uplift us, connect us, help us to relax and focus. Because of its ubiquity in our society, combined with its ease of transmission, almost everyone can experience the beneficial effects of music.

In 1979, I participated in a meditation retreat led by Pir Vilayat Khan, leader of the Sufi Order International at that time. It was located in the beautiful French Alps, and while I was there I meditated several times per day, and attended talks exploring the wisdom of Pir Vilayat and the teachings of this tradition of universal Sufism founded by his father Hazrat Inayat Khan. While at the retreat and in between periods of study and meditation, beautiful sacred music was played in the large tent where we met. This was entirely new to me, as I had never experienced just how beautiful and relaxing sacred music could be.

Rays of Light from the Same Sun

I found it profoundly uplifting. I was also inspired and really moved by the inclusive interfaith principles of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s universalist teachings, which view all religions as rays of light from the same sun. These teachings are based on the message brought by all the great teachers of humanity: the unity of all people and religions. But it was even more than that unifying message. After the retreat, I felt transformed and found that I was much more relaxed and accepting of myself and other people.

Several years later, I trained to perform The Sufi Order’s Universal Worship Service. This service is designed to attune to, acknowledge and appreciate the religions of the world with readings on a particular theme from the sacred texts of the world’s religions. Music is a vital part of the service, as music enables us to attune to each religion and to create an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

Variety of Sacred Music

Aware that comparatively few people can attend these services and experience this sense of unity and harmony, I created “Sacred Music Radio.”It is based in the UK but broadcasts worldwide, all day every day with the intention of enabling many more people on our troubled planet to experience the beauty and benefits of the incredible variety of sacred music from around the world. That explains why our theme is “Peace through Music”. We now have listeners in most countries of the world. The web site of Sacred Music Radio (sacredmusicradio.org) has an interfaith section and a quote from the site illustrates how we aim to promote interfaith understanding:
One of the properties for which music was most valued in its usage in spiritual traditions was its capacity to bring individuals together, creating a shared space in which participants could feel and think in harmony. The usage of music in this way has never faded.

If music can help us explore other cultures and traditions, it may help us to respect and celebrate our differences and discover the depth of those elements of human life which are of critical importance to all of us but are often unexpressed.
The insight that spiritual music gives us can show us how attitudes which are apparently held by communities are more importantly held by individuals in those communities.

Spiritual music may be underrepresented in modern society, but its importance and potential to contribute to global interfaith harmony are great. Ventures such as the Internet radio station Sacred Music Radio are playing music from a wide variety of spiritual traditions and from performers associated with no particular tradition in order to make this form readily available to the world.

Crossing Linguistic and Personal Barriers

Music can bypass the dogmas which divide us, creating an atmosphere of respect and appreciation and increase our common awareness of spirituality as fundamentally personal and free-flowing. An example of how music is successfully used in this way is with the Abrahamic Reunion, a group formed to promote harmony between the religions of Abraham. As part of an interfaith conference at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem in June 2015, the Abrahamic Reunion provided music performed by Palestinians. This was enjoyed by people of all faiths who attended the conference.

In a time when the need for interfaith dialogue and harmony is so pressing, music and its power to cross linguistic and personal barriers of understanding may help us to better understand the spirituality of others, discovering and focusing on our fundamental similarities rather than our trivial outward differences.

(Michael Kenton is a commentator on interfaith, global peace and harmony and the founder of Sacred Music Radio. For more details or to listen live visit http://www.sacredmusicradio.com)

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Using music to motivate

Modern life is fast-paced and can often feel aggressively demanding. With the constant expectation that we should fill every day with activity, we often forget to take time out for ourselves and reset. As today (25 February) is Employee Motivation Day, it is important to recognize that something as simple as listening to music can provide us with that much needed boost to get our work finished and see us through to the end of the day.

Reduces stress and anxiety

For many, the mental and emotional effects of music are the most noticeable. It can directly increase our happiness. At Massachusetts General Hospital, attendants noticed that patients confined to bed who listened to music for thirty minutes had a lower heart rate and blood pressure than those who hadn’t listened to music.

The reason behind is that music reduces our cortisol levels. This is more commonly known as the stress hormone, and is partly responsible for feelings of tension and emotional distress, as well as lowered immune response. Therefore, the calming effects of sound gives you the perfect excuses to sit back and switch off in a world where we are always on the move.

There are various types of music that you can listen to to relax, but many find that classical and sacred music are the most effective. There slow tempo and conservation in variation creates an enveloping experience which allows you to forget the world, in a peaceful space of your own. It can also help us to identify and express our emotions.  It can help us to become aware of the feelings associated with our stress and it can help us to master that stress instead of being subdued by it.

It can boost memory and restore focus

Music also has the ability to enhance our minds and bodies, helping us to improve our memory and increasing the results we get from exercise. This has been demonstrated in the well-known Mozart Effect Study, which has suggested that listening to Mozart’s compositions may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain mental tasks. The key type of music that keeps your brain engaged is ambient music, which engages your brain at a lower, subconscious level, and can be found in sacred music, waterfall sounds and whale songs.

The second element is a good example of the multiple simultaneous benefits of music. Enjoyable music increases our motivation and encourages us to exercise harder and reduces levels of boredom during repetitive tasks such as free-weight exercise or hypnotic tasks such as long-distance running. At the same time, enjoyable music increases our tolerance of pain, helping us to exercise harder and for longer. After exercise, music helps our bodies to recover by increasing the overall availability of oxygen.

By Michael Vakil Kenton, founder of Sacred Music Radio

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Does music belong in meditation?

Listening to music while practicing yoga is more of a controversial idea than you might expect. For some people, it just seems to work; for others, it’s a distraction.What’s most important is to select music that you enjoy listening to and music which serves the purpose you’re trying to achieve. One of the most beneficial effects of almost all sorts of music is to enhance movement. When practising, some poses can feel difficult or uncomfortable, especially while a practitioner is in the earlier stages of learning yoga. Listening to music can increase the sense of grace and ease which is sought, easing transitions between postures and improving the physical benefits. Listening to music while practicing yoga can also help us to relax and not strain. Yoga is about doing our best while we relax and not comparing ourselves with others. Becoming more relaxed with music is an ideal way to do this.

‘Meditation music’ has become a surprisingly popular phrase lately. Surprising because traditionally, music is a distraction which has no place in meditation. Certainly methods which focus on mantras and on breathing are only interrupted by music, but the most popular form of meditation in the West (‘mindfulness’) is totally compatible with music.

Meditation and yoga are different practices, but they’re both related and the impact of different musical qualities is similar in both in terms of helping us to relax. Music can be used as a backdrop which adds context to one’s thoughts and feelings, for example by creating a positive mood and helping us to move past emotional obstacles to mindfulness. Just as when we listen to the sound of a gong, we transcend our thoughts to a state of inner peace. Rather like the way in which when we listen to the sound of a gong we transcend our thoughts to a state of inner peace. 

Musical variation is the repetition of parts of a piece of music in a different form, with e.g. melody or rhythm altered but the bar or phrase is recognisable as something we’ve already heard. Variation tends to increase the extent to which music is ‘interesting,’ giving us more to think about, more to notice. Variation can be insistent; we expect to hear a certain melody repeated, and the subtle difference draws our attention. This can make highly varied music distracting when we’re trying to achieve a state of peace and relaxation. Sacred music tends to be conservative in its variation; designed more to soothe and exalt and not “jump out” at a listener. With less potential for distraction and more consistency, sacred music can be perfect for both yoga and meditation.

Tempo is also a major factor. A bit more self-explanatory than variation, higher tempo creates a sense of energy, excitement and urgency while lower tempo creates a sense of peace and relaxation. Not all meditation, not all yoga aims at relaxation, but it’s a great place to start and is greatly eased by the introduction of pleasant distractions.

Every spiritual tradition is different on the surface, but most spiritual music is concerned either with clearing the mind of unwanted tendencies and cultivating its positive tendencies, by awakening an awareness of and connection to divinity or of refining one’s emotions. Substitute ‘Self’, as in the higher Self, for divinity and sacred music could almost be purpose-built for yoga and meditation.

Music can be used (by some people) to enhance meditation, but may be more valuable for  most people as meditation. As a background, music provides things like emotional bias which could either be considered good, for its power to create a good mood without a strong positive context, or bad because of the way it distracts you from finding a source of happiness within yourself. As a foreground, music can function more like a mantra; providing a content which the mind can focus on in order to edge out other distractions for the purposes of contemplation and reflection. Music can actively improve our ability to reflect, as it enhances memory.

There are as many types of sacred music as there are spiritual traditions in the world, as music is such a part of being human that every tradition (indeed, almost every human group) has developed their own style. On Sacred Music Radio we play music from all traditions, and from performers with no particular affiliation. If you’re looking for something new to enhance your yoga or meditation, or even a way to relax prior to meditation and you’ve never considered playing some background music (or sitting with headphones, hearing every note and every instrument dance together in the darkness behind your eyelids), you might be pleasantly surprised by the results… I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t enjoy music.

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The Music You Listen To Can Enhance Your Meditation

Listening to music while practicing yoga is more of a controversial idea than you might expect. For some people, it just seems to work; for others, it’s a distraction. What’s most important is to select music that you enjoy listening to and music which serves the purpose you’re trying to achieve. One of the most beneficial effects of almost all sorts of music is to enhance movement. When practicing, some poses can feel difficult or uncomfortable, especially while a practitioner is in the earlier stages of learning yoga. Listening to music can increase the sense of grace and ease which is sought, easing transitions between postures and improving the physical benefits. Listening to music while practicing yoga can also help us to relax and not strain. Yoga is about doing our best while we relax and not comparing ourselves with others. Becoming more relaxed with music is an ideal way to do this.

‘Meditation music’ has become a surprisingly popular phrase lately. Surprising because traditionally, music is a distraction which has no place in meditation. Certainly methods which focus on mantras and on breathing are only interrupted by music, but the most popular form of meditation in the West (‘mindfulness’) is totally compatible with music.

Meditation and yoga are different practices, but they’re both related and the impact of different musical qualities is similar in both in terms of helping us to relax. Music can be used as a backdrop which adds context to one’s thoughts and feelings, for example by creating a positive mood and helping us to move past emotional obstacles to mindfulness. Just as when we listen to the sound of a gong, we transcend our thoughts to a state of inner peace. Rather like the way in which when we listen to the sound of a gong we transcend our thoughts to a state of inner peace.

Musical variation is the repetition of parts of a piece of music in a different form, with e.g. melody or rhythm altered but the bar or phrase is recognisable as something we’ve already heard. Variation tends to increase the extent to which music is ‘interesting,’ giving us more to think about, more to notice. Variation can be insistent; we expect to hear a certain melody repeated, and the subtle difference draws our attention. This can make highly varied music distracting when we’re trying to achieve a state of peace and relaxation. Sacred music tends to be conservative in its variation; designed more to soothe and exalt and not “jump out” at a listener. With less potential for distraction and more consistency, sacred music can be perfect for both yoga and meditation.

Tempo is also a major factor. A bit more self-explanatory than variation, higher tempo creates a sense of energy, excitement and urgency while lower tempo creates a sense of peace and relaxation. Not all meditation, not all yoga aims at relaxation, but it’s a great place to start and is greatly eased by the introduction of pleasant distractions.

Every spiritual tradition is different on the surface, but most spiritual music is concerned either with clearing the mind of unwanted tendencies and cultivating its positive tendencies, by awakening an awareness of and connection to divinity or of refining one’s emotions. Substitute ‘Self’, as in the higher Self, for divinity and sacred music could almost be purpose-built for yoga and meditation.

Music can be used (by some people) to enhance meditation, but may be more valuable for  most people as meditation. As a background, music provides things like emotional bias which could either be considered good, for its power to create a good mood without a strong positive context, or bad because of the way it distracts you from finding a source of happiness within yourself. As a foreground, music can function more like a mantra; providing a content which the mind can focus on in order to edge out other distractions for the purposes of contemplation and reflection. Music can actively improve our ability to reflect, as it enhances memory.

There are as many types of sacred music as there are spiritual traditions in the world, as music is such a part of being human that every tradition (indeed, almost every human group) has developed their own style. If you’re looking for something new to enhance your yoga or meditation, or even a way to relax prior to meditation and you’ve never considered playing some background music (or sitting with headphones, hearing every note and every instrument dance together in the darkness behind your eyelids), you might be pleasantly surprised by the results… I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t enjoy music.

Michael Vakil Kenton is a commentator on interfaith, global peace and harmony and the founder of Sacred Music Radio. For more details or to listen live visit sacredmusicradio.org.

See also:
Sounds Of Healing
Do-It-Yourself Sound Healing Session

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The Passing of the Solstice: The ‘Spiritual’ Meaning of Christmas

When it gets closer to this time of year, many people often say that Christmas has lost it’s meaning, with the focus on consumerism becoming larger every year. But what is ‘the meaning’ of this time of year?

Christmas is celebrated in the winter festival because it aligns with the cycles of nature and our lives, predating organised religions by millennia. I feel this point often gets forgotten about, and it is important to remember that at the end of the year, when the dark nights are getting longer and life is lacking, the solstice is passing and the natural world is being reborn into the light.

The winter festival is often expected to be an enjoyable and uplifting time of year, yet a recent study of 3,000 people in the UK has revealed that 65% find Christmas stressful. It is actually the sixth most stressful life event, up there with divorce! A lot of this can be linked to the speed of modern life, as many often place spirituality at the back of their minds, feeling that they don’t have the time to explore their spirituality, and as a result, don’t have time to ‘do Christmas properly with real meaning’.

The true spiritual meaning of the winter festival is vested in the relationships we have. This time of year is the time to come together and reflect on the meanings we have in each other’s lives. With our focus being drawn towards Christmas preparations, we need to remember to pause, reflect on the year just past and consider what the year ahead holds for us. In terms of our goals and aspirations what is our vision for the coming year?

By simply slowing down, and considering the true meaning of the winter festival, we can be reminded of the importance of community, which lies at the heart of the festival. So often, we do not appreciate the meaning other people give to our lives, and do not take the time to express our feelings in good way. Many feel insecure about letting people know how much they mean to us.

Christmas isn’t just a time for family; it’s a time to meditate on all of our relationships, including the relationship we have with ourselves. Our relationship with ourselves has to come first- we must take care of ourselves. If we are not at peace with ourselves how can we be a source of joy to others? The solstice presents the perfect opportunity for us to think about what sort of life we lead, allowing us to gain a sense of self-acceptance and peace that is necessary in order to effectively express our feelings to others.

The winter festival is far more than observing tradition; it is a time for new beginnings, a time for looking at how we can enrich our relationships with friends and relations to be aware of others on our planet who are suffering, people we do not even know. With Christmas around the corner, try to use the time wisely and look at what changes need to made in your life to bring you closer to the people who matter the most. Look beyond the pile of presents on 25th December with a fire crackling away in the background, to the entire year, as each of us can bring a warmth to enrich each other’s lives and the life of our global community.

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Older Than Calendars: The Spiritual Meaning of Christmas

Something I often hear people worrying about in the weeks leading up to Christmas is the way in which Christmas is losing its meaning, and becoming focused on consumerism. But what is the meaning of this time of year?

The winter festival predates all organized religions by millennia; we celebrate Christmas when we do because it aligns with the cycles of nature and of our lives. At the end of the year, when all seems so dark and lacking in life, the solstice finally passes and the natural world is reborn in light.

The true spiritual meaning of the winter festival has always been vested in the relationships we have. It is the time to come together and reflect on the meaning we have in each other’s lives. With the days starting to lengthen and our focus being drawn towards Christmas preparations, we need to remember to pause, reflect on the year just past, and consider what the year ahead holds for us. In terms of our goals and aspirations, what is our vision for the coming year?

Christmas is meant to be an enjoyable and uplifting time of year, yet a recent study of 3,000 people in the UK has revealed that 65% find Christmas stressful, making it the sixth most stressful life event — up there with divorce! One reason for this might be the speed of modern life. Many of us may feel we don’t have the time to explore our spirituality, don’t have the time to “do Christmas” properly with real meaning.

Just slowing down and thinking about the true meaning of the winter festival can remind us of the importance of community that the festival has always revolved around. Other people give our lives meaning, and so often we don’t take the time to express our feelings in a positive way or even feel insecure about letting people know how much they mean to us. Christmas isn’t just a time for family; it’s a time to meditate on all of our relationships, including the relationship we have with ourselves.

To have a good relationship with others, our relationship with ourselves has to come first: we must first take care of ourselves. If we are not at peace with ourselves how can we be a source of joy to others? By taking the solstice as an opportunity to think about the sort of life we each live, we can gain a sense of self-acceptance and peace that is necessary in order to openly express our feelings to others.

The winter festival is far more than observing tradition; it is a time for new beginnings, a time for looking at how we can enrich our relationships with friends and relations to be aware of others on our planet who are suffering, people we do not even know. Use the next few weeks leading up to the year’s end to look at what changes need to be made in our lives to bring us closer to the people who matter most to us, not just around a pile of presents on 25th December with a fire crackling away in the background, but throughout the year, with each of us bringing warmth to enrich each other’s lives and the life of our global community.

Michael Kenton is a commentator on interfaith, global peace and harmony and the founder of Sacred Music Radio. For more details or to listen live visit sacredmusicradio.org

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Healing Vibrations: The Power of Spiritual Music

Music is a significant part of almost everyone’s lives. It can uplift us, help us to relax; it can be appreciated for its aesthetic appeal, its technical accomplishments or simply for the ‘feeling’ it produces on listening. We all listen to different music at different times and for different reasons, but most importantly we all listen. Most music doesn’t come to us from strings and skins, it comes to us through the radio, from our players, from the internet. The ease of transmission allows almost everyone to experience the beneficial effects of music.

Check out the Healers Journal Collection of Powerful Spiritual Sound Healing Music Here: Sound Healing Collection

And these effects extend far beyond the appreciation of music as art. Music is effective as a tool for healing and self-development, having a long history of use in this way which is increasingly supported by contemporary studies. The enjoyment we get so readily from music can elevate our mood and increase our happiness, even proving effective in the treating of depression. Music – especially fast, high energy music – can also help us to perform better in high pressure situations, giving us a more positive outlook, helping us to focus on strategies and solutions and assisting us in getting excited rather than anxious. Music can even improve memory, especially verbal memory. These effects were observed during the treatment of stroke patients, whose verbal memory recovery was enhanced by the use of music compared to silence or audiobooks.

Fairly well known is the power of music to reduce heart and breathing rates and blood pressure. This is connected to a reduction in the level of cortisol (often termed ‘the stress hormone’) in the body. Noted time and time again, this effect was reported, for example, at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where it was observed that patients confined to bed who listened to music for thirty minutes had lowered stress symptoms and were in less apparent distress than patients who didn’t listen to music. Music (that the listener enjoys) can even ease physical pain.

Music can also enhance our relationships with our bodies, motivating us to exercise harder and for longer and improving muscular and cardiovascular recovery and growth afterwards. This can be explained in part by the fact that listening to music can improve blood flow, increasing the availability of oxygen and glucose and thereby increasing energy levels and promoting muscle fibre regeneration. Music can also protect the immune system by maintaining lower levels of cortisol.

The use of music in therapeutic settings has been extensively explored and its beneficial effects well established. To give a few examples: Ventre’s (1994) case study showed how music built up an environment of love, acceptance and trust for a patient attempting to recover from sexual abuse and suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). McCaffrey (2008) found that music connects individuals with their emotions and self-awareness, creating a healing environment. Perruzza & Kinsella (2010) found that music therapy transformed their patients’ lives: empowering them, giving them a renewed sense of self, a means of expression and a sense of purpose which transformed the illness experience.

But the therapeutic qualities of music are fairly recent rediscoveries in medical science; the practice of musical healing predates Classical history, and has been kept alive in the world’s spiritual traditions. In Sufi culture, for example, music is still used as a tool for personal and spiritual purification and development. The tradition emphasises the use of dance, and Mevlevi practitioners or ‘dervishes’ engage in a repetitive whirling dance, attempting to reach Kemal, the source of all perfection, by listening to the music while attempting to abandon their egos and personal desires and focus on God. Of the Sufi’s, scholar and founder of The Sufi Order in the West Hazrat Inayat Khan says that “They have the power of wonder-working, and the power of insight.” Calling the dervishes “dreamers, and lovers of God.”, Khan points to the way in which “they worship God in nature, especially in human nature.” He suggests that Dervishes are those Sufis who are most receptive to the spirit and the soul: resonating with the music on a spiritual level, ‘feeling’ the music more deeply than the average listener. “Whoever among them is moved by spirit may manifest the ecstasy, which is called wajad, in the form of tears, sighs or dance,” Khan informs; “It is therefore that those who do not understand the meaning of their dance call them “howling dervishes”, or “dancing dervishes”.” Deeply concerned with direct emotional experiences and with the ultimate emotional experience of ecstasy, Sufi worship contrasts sharply with the quiet, reflective, controlled liturgy typical of Western traditions.

Hindu culture emphasises the importance of music in a very different way, focusing on refining and mastering the emotions as opposed experiencing them as directly and intensely as possible. Hindu traditions have produced broad and complex systems of mantras, which are intended to have healing qualities. Lacking any definable melody, these mantras are not songs, nor are they valued for aesthetic purposes. The qualities of the sounds and rhythms of these mantras, however, are highly valuable in Hindu culture for their perceived functional purpose. Generally speaking, single syllable mantras are repeated in order to free an individual from restraints or frustrations, whereas phrased mantras tend to relate to the specific cure of an ailment.

Mantras are believed to function through the pineal gland, highlighted by the widespread usage of bindis (red dots worn on the forehead in many South Asian countries), which symbolizes the importance of the pineal gland or ‘third eye’. The parallel with modern medical science is interesting, given that biology currently understands the pineal gland to release the serotonin-derived hormone melatonin, which is responsible for regulating our sleep patterns. In ancient Hindu practices we see an implicit understanding of some aspects of modern biopsychology.

It might even be the case that the combination of the personal benefits of music and the history of use in spiritual traditions affords spiritual music a particular power which reaches beyond its personal or cultural context and establishes a powerful resource for intercultural dialogue. Music may represent a way for us to explore the distinctions and similarities which have evolved as our cultures have developed. It may help us to better understand the experiences of others, to respect and celebrate our differences and discover the depth of those often unexpressed elements of human life which are of critical importance to all of us, healing divisions in our societies.

The way in which sharp distinctions between cultures are perceived is often viewed as the source of misunderstandings and failures of cooperation; the misleading view of fundamental difference can shut down the possibility for reasoned discussion. Divisive cross-cultural issues can be difficult to fully understand because the principles on which these issues are based are so often deeply held and ancient. This failure of understanding typically results because individuals have no real access to or understanding of the causes of these unfamiliar principles.

Just as listening to music from unfamiliar genres can help us to understand the ‘scene’ associated with that genre, so too can listening to music from spiritual traditions give us a greater understanding of that tradition’s culture. Listening to music from a specific cultural group can give a powerful insight into the direct emotional experiences of belonging which are associated with being part of that group. Experiencing the passion of the performer and appreciating the context of that passion can help us understand important and intimate parts of other people’s personalities and can help us to appreciate that the principles which sometimes divide us as are only cultural insofar as they are also personal; the importance of any given belief is its relationship to every individual who holds it, and its cultural significance is the way in which it brings them together.

Often people are unwilling to discuss important issues cross-culturally. We seem to expect total stubbornness when debating matters of religious importance. Frequently deeply held principles being explored by another group is interpreted as an hostility. There is perhaps a perception of an attack on those principles which define an individual’s relationships with their community.

The connecting effects of music – especially music from spiritual traditions – may help us to see the way forward in these important and often troubled cross-cultural debates. Music may help us to commit to resolution-focus discussions of our most notable cultural and religious differences which aim at framing principles and practices in the context of an international community, in which cultures are seen not as divided but as similar and separate parts of a wider global culture. Music can bypass the doctrines and dogmas which so often divide us, helping us to access a common spiritual awareness and creating an atmosphere of respect and appreciation.

Spiritual music – after decades of relative obscurity – is enjoying strong representation once more. Ventures such as internet radio station Sacred Music Radio are making this form readily available to the world: playing music from a wide variety of spiritual traditions and from performers associated with no particular tradition.

In this atmosphere in which the importance of understanding the legitimacy of other cultural positions is seen as primary, we can avoid the problems of resistance or defensiveness which often result in deadlocks; rather than perceiving e.g. an inquiry as to the ethical viability of a certain practice in our own culture as a challenge to the principles which reside at the core of our cultural identity, we can appreciate that our core cultural values are acknowledged are respected, that the inquiry is legitimate, focused and needn’t be considered differently from any other ethical question. This place of understanding and respect is a ground for resolution and coherence, in which cultures – just like individuals in a society – work together to achieve the common goals of peaceful cooperation and mutual enrichment.

You can find out more at sacredmusicradio.org

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Breaking Barriers

Spiritual Music as a Means of Promoting Interfaith Harmony

Spiritual music may be underrepresented in modern society, but its importance and potential to contribute to global interfaith harmony are great.

By Michael Vakil Kenton

Music is a fundamental part of humanity, significant in almost every human life. Music can uplift us, connect us, help us to relax and focus. Because of its ubiquity in our society, combined with its ease of transmission, almost everyone can experience the beneficial effects of music.
n 1979, I participated in a meditation retreat led by Pir Vilayat Khan, leader of the Sufi Order International at that time. It was located in the beautiful French Alps, and while I was there I meditated several times per day, and attended talks exploring the wisdom of Pir Vilayat and the teachings of this tradition of universal Sufism founded by his father Hazrat Inayat Khan. While at the retreat and in between periods of study and meditation, beautiful sacred music was played in the large tent where we met. This was entirely new to me, as I had never experienced just how beautiful and relaxing sacred music could be, and

Rays of Light from the Same Sun
I found it profoundly uplifting. I was also inspired and really moved by the inclusive interfaith principles of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s universalist teachings, which view all religions as rays of light from the same sun. These teachings are based on the message brought by all the great teachers of humanity: the unity of all people and religions. But it was even more than that unifying message. After the retreat, I felt transformed and found that I was much more relaxed and accepting of myself and other people.
Several years later, I trained to perform The Sufi Order’s Universal Worship Service. This service is designed to attune to, acknowledge and appreciate the religions of the world with readings on a particular theme from the sacred texts of the world’s religions. Music is a vital part of the service, as music enables us to attune to each religion and to create an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

Variety of Sacred Music
Aware that comparatively few people can attend these services and experience this sense of unity and harmony, I created “Sacred Music Radio.”It is based in the UK but broadcasts worldwide, all day every day with the intention of enabling many more people on our troubled planet to experience the beauty and benefits of the incredible variety of sacred music from around the world. That explains why our theme is “Peace through Music”. We now have listeners in most countries of the world. The web site of Sacred Music Radio (sacredmusicradio.org) has an interfaith section and a quote from the site illustrates how we aim to promote interfaith understanding:
One of the properties for which music was most valued in its usage in spiritual traditions was its capacity to bring individuals together, creating a shared space in which participants could feel and think in harmony. The usage of music in this way has never faded.
If music can help us explore other cultures and traditions, it may help us to respect and celebrate our differences and discover the depth of those elements of human life which are of critical importance to all of us but are often unexpressed.
The insight that spiritual music gives us can show us how attitudes which are apparently held by communities are more importantly held by individuals in those communities.
Spiritual music may be underrepresented in modern society, but its importance and potential to contribute to global interfaith harmony are great. Ventures such as the Internet radio station Sacred Music Radio are playing music from a wide variety of spiritual traditions and from performers associated with no particular tradition in order to make this form readily available to the world.

Crossing Linguistic and Personal Barriers
Music can bypass the dogmas which divide us, creating an atmosphere of respect and appreciation and increase our common awareness of spirituality as fundamentally personal and free-flowing. An example of how music is successfully used in this way is with the Abrahamic Reunion, a group formed to promote harmony between the religions of Abraham. As part of an interfaith conference at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem in June 2015, the Abrahamic Reunion provided music performed by Palestinians. This was enjoyed by people of all faiths who attended the conference.
In a time when the need for interfaith dialogue and harmony is so pressing, music and its power to cross linguistic and personal barriers of understanding may help us to better understand the spirituality of others, discovering and focusing on our fundamental similarities rather than our trivial outward differences.
(Michael Kenton is a commentator on interfaith, global peace and harmony and the founder of Sacred Music Radio. For more details or to listen live visit http://www.sacredmusicradio.com)

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