Chanting for Care of Soul
In our culture, there is a lot of talk about self-care. One of the ways I take care of myself and my soul is by chanting. Now I know what you may be thinking – candles, bells, Gregorian monasteries, Buddhist monks, dark medieval churches, new-age crystals, hippies-there are a lot of images that come to mind when we think of chanting. None of those images represent me. I’m just a regular white, heterosexual guy running a business, figuring out how to connect to my grandchildren, and doing and being the best that I can in this life. I can’t read music. I can’t write music. I don’t play an instrument and I cannot hold a tune, but I can chant.
I mostly use one, particular chant. It goes like this:
“Speak through the earthquake, the wind, and the fire…
Oh…
Still small voice of love….”
I inhale and exhale on specific “notes” or words of the chant. I learned this chant while I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I cannot remember the name of the person who taught it to me, but she gave me a tremendous gift. If you would like a demonstration of the chant, click here to listen to Darlene Franz sing this grounding and soothing chant.
The words of this chant may or may not be familiar to you. The words are from the poem, “The Brewing of Soma”, by American Quaker poet and abolitionist, John Greenleaf Whittier. For me, the earthquake, the wind, and the fire symbolize: the disruptions and the obsessions that take over our thoughts, the resentments that we cling to, the reactions that swallow us and knock us off-center in our relationships, in our society and culture. The “Oh” in this chant is a letting go, a releasing, and an emptying-of-self action and sensation. The “Still small voice of love” section of the chant is the discovery that underneath all the earthquakes, the winds and the fires is that small clear voice of love that is real, fundamental, and authentic.
To chant is to really feel vibration in our bodies. A person cannot feel these vibrations and simultaneously cling to resentments, obsessions worries and fears. When you are in tune with the vibration, you are literally at that moment free from anything else. You are in the present moment – not the past or the future. We know from quantum theory that the universe is constantly vibrating and at the smallest elements (string theory) there is a vibration that sustains all the energy of the universe.
Vibration is a tune that is core to us, to our existence. When we feel the vibration in our bodies through chanting, we are in touch with ourselves as part of the universe, evolving into deeper consciousness and ever more complexity. As human beings, we certainly have a long way to go in the evolution of consciousness. Consider the following:
- willful and purposeful ecological destruction
- American concentration camps within our borders
- corrupt political leaders at the highest level
- morally inept faith communities
- predatory consumer capitalism that creates vast disparities of wealth
- a culture that is frivolous, superficial, and filled with distractions
All of this points to pretty strong evidence that we are a very primitive people in need of a vibration to call us to a deeper place.
People would never know that I chant, unless I tell them. I chant alone and in private – in the car on the way to work. At times, when I’m feeling trapped by resentment, or trying to control a reaction that I know would be hurtful if I indulged it, I will chant. When I chant, I feel the vibration and I come back to myself. When I am back to the essence of myself in my daily life, I am less likely to generate or experience earthquakes, wind, and fire, but instead I express my small voice of love for other people, animals, plants, and minerals. Yes, even the Earth’s plants, animals and minerals vibrate. As humans, we have a responsibility to vibrate with them, rather than go off on our own, leaving them and us to our destruction. This reminds me of the horse running away from the raging California fires who stopped and went back for his family-ensuring that they all escaped to safety also. Chanting helps me remember this responsibility to myself and others. We are indeed connected and interdependent. What a thing to regard during these trying times-that our purpose is to serve and connect with our surroundings and fellow humans.
Be well,
Bill