Have you ever been in a situation where you experienced a unity through sound? Maybe it was in the church, or perhaps while chanting ‘Om’ in yoga, or as part of a band or choir. Did it feel like you were part of something bigger than yourself? Like the sum was greater than all the parts?
Chozen-ji Zen Temple, Honolulu
We explored this unity or tapping into the universal energy through sound this weekend at a Sound Healing training in Hawaii. The training took place at Chozen-ji Zen dojo. One of the key principles we learned is that sound = vibration. Even silence has it’s own vibration and different silences have different qualities. Many spiritual practices use sound (in the form of mantras, or chants) to tune into universal energy. We learned how to develop our hara (belly, place below the belly button, considered to be the source of your power) so that our kiai (force or energy) could be stronger, cleaner, clearer. One of the exercises we performed was ringing a bell with our shout. We used 3 different kias: “ei”, “toh”, “yah”. It was incredible to listen as the bell rang back in response to our kiai. Martial development turned me on to the following video which actually demonstrates this. If you speed forward to the end of the clip you’ll see how this Japanese Kiai master rings the bell:
When I shouted with my kiai this weekend, the bell didn’t ring quite so loudly, but it did ring! Something good to keep in mind next time I feel like yelling at someone.
Technorati Tags: Glam Media, Glam, GlamSpirit, Wellness, Health, GlamNetwork, Sound, Kiai, Zen, Hara
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Jen | 01-Aug-07 at 4:57 pm | Permalink
Yikes! This is an eye opener indeed. Your so right about keeping this in mind when we feel like yelling at someone. Great blog, thanks.
Chris | 01-Aug-07 at 7:19 pm | Permalink
Thanks for the link, Rebecca. Many people believe this is impossible, but it seems like high-school physics to mee.
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