Yoga of Sound/Nada Yoga Training in India?

vverlee

Greetings,

I am a yoga teacher and musician in the United States. I will be in India for the month of Febuary, and am very interested in studying with a teacher/ at an ashram, who focuses on the healing thru sound.

does anyone know about such teachers/ashrams anywhere in india (or thailand, which is where my trip begins in january).

thanks!

vanessa

AvidTrekker

The traditional meaning of naada yoga seems to have been twisted for whatever reasons.....

Could you elaborate on what you consider as "healing thru sound"? Give an example or two maybe??

Yours truly is a naada yoga practitioner from 1979.... of the traditional variety; which means listening with single pointed attention to the inner anaahata sounds. Have never taught anyone. [possibly coz no one wants to learn] My teacher is no longer alive.

Also practising chanting/teaching veda mantras... the "external" vocalization of the divine naada.

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

mira4bai4

Now Avid I am sure that others want to learn but to teach means to take on their karma, such a price for the Sound.

See the Sound and Hear the Light, shall hear with the inner eye and see with the inner ear, the reflection of an illusion is the reality.

AvidTrekker

Yes, it means taking on their karma if i charge for the teachings. I do not charge anything. Hence the "taking on" of karma does not arise. It is indeed a steep price to pay.

Again, the term "naada yoga" used by the OP means something else and not veda mantras.

The tongue cannot see and the eye cannot speak.

mira4bai4

Brother Avid, please do not pass on the 'names', I think that you misunderstand, as whether money changes hands or not, the act of teaching, giving of the 'names' and practice means that the teacher takes responsibility for the karma's of the student/disciple. This has always been and will always be the way of learning Anahad, Anahat etc Shabd, the Unstruck Sound.

Naadi, naada, nad is the 'Word'.

Not the gross physical tongue or the gross physical eye, the 'inner' ear and the 'inner' eye, reflections.

AvidTrekker

This discussion has gone completely off topic.

But I have to give some reply as I figured out what you are trying to say.

Some teacher's give "mantras" for doing japa saadhanaa on a regular basis. For example, a teacher may say: "Repeat mentally Om namaH shivaaya every day 108 times for six months in the morning at 4 am" something like that.

I now believe that when you talk of giving "names" it is this thing above that you are referrring to. Please correct me if I have formed the wrong impression.

If some such mantra is given without money changing hands, AND with a feeling of divine love, NO karma responsibility accrues to the teacher. How else did your teacher give you the "name" ?? [assuming that you are already doing some japa saadhanaa]

Some teachers DO have the power to take ON some of the karma of the disciple [whether they give a "name" or not]. They do it from time to time out of divine love and compassion; when they will it; and not automatically by the act of "name" giving.

But to imply that ALL of the student's karma is "taken on" by the teacher by the simple act of giving "name" to the student means that the student would be God-realized at the end of the japa saadhanaa. This "name" giving is quite a prolific activity. Majority of the beggar/genuine saadhus in Rishikesh/Haridwar do it. Now I don't see mass self realizations occuring all over the globe. All these saadhus would get terrible diseases as a result of their automatically taking over other's karma [if it were to actually happen]. One cannot transfer karma as easily as one writes a cheque or picks someone's pocket. There aren't fifty souls who can actually do this in today's kaliyuga. [ I am being generous with my figure, it may be somewhere around nine or ten ]

As I said above, it does occur for specific instances ONLY. Jesus did not convert water into wine every day for different disciples, although he definitely had the power to do so. It happens because it is willed by the Master; and for NO other reason.

I don't do this "name" giving, coz I don't belong to such a tradition. Your kind warning does not apply to me. Thanks for your kindness.

I teach veda mantras to some students according to the traditional style of veda chanting. This has traditional sanction from the dharma sutras themselves. In fact, if a knower of veda does not teach or pass on the art, he is said to have committed a grave sin.

I hope the matter is a bit more clearer....

gahanaa karmaNo gatiHi ..... says the bhagavad giitaa

"the workings of karma are not fathomable"

it is my humble opinion; i could be wrong.

mira4bai4

In the tradition that I follow, the giving of the 'Names, at the time of 'Initiation' also known as Naam Daam, giving of Nam. Nam is of two kinds: Varnatmak (that can be expressed or uttered) and Dhunyatmak (that which can be heard within as Nad or Shabd, the Word). This consists of receiving Five Holy Names given by the Master and carrying the Power of the Master. The Five Holy Names are Varnatmak which acts as a pointer to and leads to the real or Dhunayatmak Nam within, which is not really a word but a POWER that emanates from the Supreme Being and takes us to Him.

At the time of Initiation, the Master takes responsibility for the karma's of the Initiated Disciple. That means that the Master decides how, when and to what degree the disciples karma's are to be allocated, to be gone through. Our tradition states that the initiated disciple will experience only 10% of their rightful karma's, through meditation, repeating the Five Holy Names in Simran, being repetition (mantra) and through devotion to the Name (Nam Bhakti) the Master through His Grace takes within him the karma of the disciple as He desires.

From my understanding with any teacher student relationship, the transfer of knowledge and the giving of any name, mantra, means that the giver takes a responsibility for a proportion of the students karma. Essentially if you teach someone to do negatives things to others or your teachings are the cause of suffering then ....., if your teachings manifest in the goodness and purity of the student and those that are affected by it then ......, in accepting a student or disciple the teacher is intrinsically associated with the student and unknowingly or knowingly takes upon themselves responsibilities.

Depending on the spiritual level of the teacher, depends on the power that comes with those names or words; the words don't mean much, it is the power that accompanies them that is the key. But as you are bound to your teacher by the Names, so are your disciples or students bound to you. If a student has very heavy karma's and you are not aware of it, this has a strong effect on you.

There were many occasions when after giving Nam to disciples, we are here talking about a thousand or so initiates Masters in my tradition have become quite unwell for a number of days, thankfully the present Master has not suffered like others have but seems to glow somewhat afterwards.

AvidTrekker

mira, what you state is essentially correct, your understanding of the details is fuzzy. My tradition does not normally follow "giving naams" or giving "mantras" or "beejas" as it is called in sanskrit. But it is NOT entirely banned, so to say. Some deserving persons have been given the "naam", although I do not give "naams".

As long as one adheres to one's tradition, consciously resigns the "doership" idea every day and remains saatvik in these activities, does not charge money for such things... then God takes care of such persons in the Kali Yuga. Mitigates the kaarmic backlash. Because such persons are so few and far between. Also, because without this special allowance in Kali Yuga, these people will swiftly die out [stop the traditional teaching].

Also, the requirement/qualification for liberation is the leastest in the Kali Yuga. Merely taking God's name at the precise moment of death. God's name in any language.

mira4bai4

Hmmm, maybe I am fuzzy, maybe not; can only go by what the Masters in my lineage have said and when directly asked have said much like I wrote previously.

Anyway it is all karma and at a given point when the Soul and the Mind separate it all becomes irrelevant, one does what one is destined to do.