Excerpts Chapter 12
THE MEDITATION BOOK:
SOULFUL MUSIC
Soulful music enhances meditation
Question: Can spiritual music be played during meditation?
Sri Chinmoy: Certainly, although it depends on the one who meditates. There are many seekers on earth who meditate extremely well, but who have not developed their musical sense. Their ears have not been trained so we cannot expect them to change their nature over night. They either lack the capacity of appreciation or they have some austere feeling about music. There are many seekers who have the silly notion that all music is vital, from the lower vital. They don’t encourage their children to learn music because they feel that as soon as they enter into the music world, they will fall. There is some truth to this because we all know that vital music is appreciated most all over the world. Psychic music is not very widely appreciated and very few people appreciate the soul’s music. They feel it is like a stranger who is entering into their consciousness. It is actually their eternal tenant, their soul, who is deep within them waiting to come to the fore.
If divine music is played during deep meditation, it enhances the meditation. Naturally, undivine music will immediately lower the consciousness, while soulful music will immediately help in elevating the consciousness. This is why we play music from time to time in our Centre. We do not encourage music all the time because there are many people who do not appreciate or admire music. We don’t want to create problems for them since it is a group meditation. So if you are fond of music, then please play soulful songs or chants during your meditations at home. Soft, soulful music will definitely help you.
Becoming one with soulful music
Question: What is the best way to become one with soulful music?
Sri Chinmoy: The best way to become one with soulful music is to breathe in and breathe out with the firm inner conviction that while you are breathing in, the breath is immediately entering directly into your soul, and with the breath the Universal Consciousness, divine Reality, divine Truth is also entering. When you breathe out, try to feel that you are breathing out the veils that are around your soul. Feel that they are lifted and discarded. If you can consciously imagine and feel this, it is the best way to become one with soulful music.
What do we mean by soulful music? If you say it is the music that embodies the soul, then I wish to say that it is incorrect. You have to feel that soulful music is the Light that wants to express itself in a divine way. Even as darkness wants to manifest its authority on earth, Light also wants to manifest its Reality and Divinity in a specific way. Light is the soul of everything. Light is the soul of music, Light is the soul of love and Light is the soul of all art. When Light manifests itself in a divine way in the form of music, it is the music of the soul.
Which kind of music elevates our consciousness?
Question: Can some kinds of music cause us to feel upset and change our spiritual condition?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. There is some music that is really destructive to our inner being. This music comes from the gross physical or lower vital. The spiritual person will immediately be affected by this music. But soulful and spiritual music really helps us; it feeds our inner life. Music has tremendous power. With fire we can burn ourselves, or we can cook and do many other good things. So it is with music. The divine music immediately elevates our consciousness. Undivine music immediately lowers our consciousness, and it tries to destroy our sincere inner cry for a better spiritual life. Undivine music tries to awaken our lower vital consciousness and throw us into a world of excitement.