Simple Secrets to Experience the Power of Om Chanting and Mantra Chants: How to Chant with Power and Grace

To chant a sacred sound is an opportunity to merge into the Divine. When your chanting is sincere, pure and flowing, you are going to achieve a state of heightened consciousness and you will accelerate your journey toward enlightenment. But there is an art to it. Chanting is like a Universal language, a doorway into Spiritual Oneness. When you learn to speak that language, you commune with the power of the Supreme

One time when I was chanting in a group, I remember starting out feeling as if I was just repeating strange sounds by rote. There was nothing "spiritual" about it at first. But then, through surrender and conscious attention to the feeling of the music in my body, the experience took on a sacred quality. There is a way to chant with Heart that begins deep transformation. And this is what we are going to explore in this article.

I suggest you take some time with this. Be willing to have an experience of the Divine via chanting sacred sounds. Be willing to practice chanting by yourself, in the shower, with a whisper, or in a secluded wood. Or, if you can find a chanting circle, that would be even better.

To Do and Explore:

Pick a day to experience the power of chant for yourself. Taste the fruit of what I am speaking of! I invite you to take any hymn, poem, or spiritual line that has meaning for you, and put it into a song.

The Adi Granth is the Sikh holy scripture. I included a few lines from it to help us explore the power of chant. But feel free to use whatever you want. Any line of wisdom you connect with will work.

Take a line and hear the music of it. Hear the Inner Music of it. Meditate upon it, either silently or aloud, as often as possible for one day. Chant it within. Any hymn you choose is fine, but here is one verse you may wish to start with:

In the beginning, and in the end, God is always my helper and companion; blessed is my friend.

My mind is delighted, gazing upon the marvelous, glorious greatness of the Lord and Master.

Let this mantra (or whichever one you choose, and again it could be any sacred text that speaks to you) take over all doubt or mental noise. Surrender your mind chatter to God within. Throughout your day bring your selected hymn to mind periodically. Remember it during your drive to work, in the elevator, in the restroom, etc.

Hum it, sing it, breathe it, BE IT.

Stay with this practice for the entire day and watch how your heart opens.

What if nothing changes? What if staying with a mantra/chant is not taking you closer to God? Consider that you haven’t let the words give way to the reality underneath them. Continue on until the true Self shines through.

This is a common experience in Kirtan (devotional music and chanting). Some Kirtans last for hours and it can take a while to open to the power. Stay with it. The rewards are worth the time. It is when you let the power of the song move through you that brings you back to Truth. All that is required is stepping out of your own way. There is no need to control everything. Let the Higher Power work for you and in you.

“How can the mortal become true? Nanak replies that this can be achieved by obeying the pre-ordained command and will of God recorded for man.”

It is the will of God that sets us free. We can learn to set our personal will aside and chanting is a wonderful way to do this. It is not that we are the ones chanting; it is that we are “being chanted” by God.

(743-14, sUhI, mÚ 5)
The Holy Saints ever sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord, the Source of Nectar.

Singing the Kirtan of the Lord‘s Praises in the Company of the Blessed, is the highest of all actions.

God sings through us and as us. We are God. We are God’s musical instruments. When we blend with God, we sing in harmony with His will. This is Enlightenment

The Gift of Chant

Receiving Support from Group Energy

In Eastern teachings, people often sit and meditate together. Sacred texts are read or chanted in unison, and voices and inner perceptions can harmonize to collectively lift the veils of mental noise. There is power when a team comes together with a shared, sacred purpose. In a group, we can be of service to each other, pull each other up out of the mire when we are stuck. But when by ourselves, we sometimes feel limited or alone. We forget our innate goodness, our spiritual bigness, and our inner Gift of Presence that allows us to short circuit worry with a knowing smile.

Groups remind us that we are all teachers and students for each other. If you have a support team already, be it a 12-step group, a therapist, online community, or supportive friends and relatives, it is something to be grateful for. Give support and you will receive it. If you don’t have a team already, that is okay. We will discuss ways to help attract fellowship and support later in the book. Realize you can still explore the practices we’ll be using on your own. Be okay with practicing alone, and as you do so, something powerful yet simple can happen: You can realize you are never truly alone.

There is a world-wide fellowship of spiritual people all around the world. Your commitment to explore a practice connects you to this fellowship, even if you are not in close proximity to others. We are all connected in consciousness. Stand tall in this knowing. It is not meant as a philosophical platitude. Like fingers are part of a hand, each and every one of us creates and participates in the Whole of Totality. Isolation and separation are of the ego, connection and synergy are of the Self. We will have more to say later about this topic in chapter six. For now, it is enough to remember you are never truly alone even if it feels as if you are. With God as your constant partner, trust others will show up in right timing.

The Spiritual Significance of Music and Chanting

Chanting is a tool to solidify connection, release undue effort, and untangle mental noise. Chanting leads to washing away of the false. As we have seen, this can be done by saying a mantra. What we are exploring now is the power of singing a mantra.

When a scriptural hymn is chanted (traditionally called Kirtan), this brings you into a deep connection with God. The key of Kirtan is to feel and embody the essence of the words.

Chanting is very similar to saying a mantra, but the singing and toning add a powerful vibrational effect.

“Music is an exterior representation…of the life-giving inner sounds that act therapeutically within your body all the time. Music activates the inner living cells of your body, stimulates the energy of the inner self, and helps to unite the conscious mind with the other portions of your being.” ~ Seth/Jane Roberts

Music and chanting allow you to immerse yourself in singing praise of God. Music fuels effortlessness and reopens the doorway to letting God in, as opposed to trying to find God. Music allows God into your heart. It opens the gate again.

On one hand, it takes skill, practice, and ‘work’ to learn to play an instrument, learn proper notes and musical techniques . However, musical skill itself is not at all what brings me closer to God when I play. Lack of musical skill is not a factor. There is nothing stopping the person who sings out of tune from reaching God! God does not care about musical perfection. A sincere Heart is all that matters.

To receive extraordinary benefits from chant and music, it boils down to your openness in your heart to the Song of Life and the Song of God in everyday circumstances. You are part of the symphony of the unfolding Universe. You are an important character in the dance of the universe. Therefore, when you are in touch with your Inner Essence, the chants you chant and the songs you sing become spiritually transformative.

How does music become a spiritual experience? The answer is simple: Sing or listen from joy and ease, and let go of perfectionism.

Nature points the way inward to the Joy of Life and to the perfection all around us.

"Understand what nature demonstrates so clearly- there is no such thing as failure." ~ John Perkins, Author of Psychonavigation

Nature, and its cacophony of sights and sounds, takes us back to the music of our Self. For instance, Guru Nanak saw rain as a representation of a yearning for God. This is a reminder to see your environment with Spiritual Eyes and hear sounds with Spiritual Ears. In this way you can shift your view of anything which is occurring around you, and you can feel a deep and loving meaning to it.

Another example: If there is a bird singing outside your window, realize deeply it is not “just a bird.” It is the manifestation of God. It is the wind chime of the soul of the Universe singing its tune. The bird is a spiritual musician in the orchestra of the Divine, and you can feel and hear the Divine in the stillness of your Heart.

HEARTSONG (A poem by By Mattie J.T. Stepanek)

I have a song deep in my heart,

And only I can hear it.

If I close my eyes and sit very still

...It is so easy to listen to my song.

When my eyes are open and I am so

Busy and moving and busy,

If I take time and listen very hard,

I can still hear my Heartsong.

It makes me feel happy.

Happier than ever.

Happier than everywhere

And everything and everyone

In the whole wide world.

Happy like thinking about

Going to Heaven when I die.

My Heartsong sounds like this:

I love you! I love you!

How happy you can be!

How happy you can make this whole

World be.

Mattie J.T. Stepanek was a boy featured on Oprah a few years ago, and the above poem was WRITTEN AT THE AGE OF SIX.

Sometimes, when I am waiting for a bus or walking in a mall, I see the bustling activity all around, and then suddenly I think: “Wow, where did this whole thing come from?!” The sound of the bus, the people talking, the dog barking, all weave together to form a brilliant symphony. I know there is something Divine at play because I feel it from inside What I Am. Life is the song of God, disguised as the hustle and bustle of ordinariness.

So next time you are at a bus stop, or walking down the street, or in a shop, listen with new ears and awaken. Cultivate the ears to hear the Ever Present Divine Symphony and you will feel extraordinariness all around.

The more you notice, hear and feel the Divine Symphony in the present moment of your day, the more physical music (whether played or listened to) will guide you into Spiritual Solace internally. In other words, the more you hear and sense the Divine Song, the Silent Song of the Universe, the more audible songs and chants will reach into your heart and uplift your life. Hear through Spiritual Ears first and the rest will follow. How do you do this? Through marvel and child-like wonder.

What power God has to create the spiritual song and dance of life, with all its enormous structures and events!! Everything is music! And everything comes from the earth. It is all natural earth taking shape and form. Even most musical instruments come from the earth, and it is all part of the divine dance, part of the ever-unfolding song.