Hearing: Alter Your
Consciousness with Sound
In Tantric anatomy, the sense of hearing is associated with the throat chakra, and the action organ for that chakra is the voice, which reflects the understanding that speaking and hearing are closely connected. It is believed that the throat chakra is the last of the physical centers and that it is the gateway to mental and spiritual realms.
Tantra is primarily an oral tradition, and there is a great emphasis on the passage of teachings from “mouth to ear.” This is also implicit in the word Upanishad (which refers to a group of sacred Hindu texts). Upanishad can be translated as “ear-whispered teachings.” All of this implies that hearing and speaking are powerful ways of connecting ourselves with the sacred dimension in life.
There are a number of traditional Tantric meditations that involve hearing. This is due, in part, to the nature of sound. Sounds are considerably more variable than other sensory cues: they can be soft or loud, distant or close, steady or wavering. This makes it possible to work with them in very interesting ways. The Vijnanabhairava Tantra, a pre-eminent Kashmiri Tantric text and one of the greatest meditation manuals ever written, describes one such technique: “If one listens with undivided attention to the sounds of stringed and other musical instruments which on account of their (uninterrupted) succession are prolonged, he will, at the end, be absorbed in the ether of consciousness.” 34 In this meditation, the practitioner listens to the sound, follows it as it begins to fade, and then stays in the silence, with the music still resonating mentally.
Hearing is also interesting because it functions in two ways. Airborne sounds produce vibrations that are received by the ear, converted into nerve impulses, and processed by the brain. Underwater sounds are heard by bone conduction, a fact that has significant implications in terms of the connection between hearing and the voice and with regard to the use of mantras.
Mantras are sounds that function both to focus the mind and to produce changes in physiology and consciousness. One of the best known and most powerful of all mantras is the familiar syllable Om (\). It is said that Om is the only mantra that anyone ever needs, and if you try chanting it aloud for fifteen minutes, you may learn why.
The correct way to chant it is to place one-third of the emphasis on the “O” sound and two-thirds on the “mmm.” The power of the vibration is in the “mmm,” because it is transmitted through the skull into the sphenoid sinus and from there into the sphenoid saddle, which houses the pituitary gland. This stimulation of the pituitary contributes to the change in consciousness that most people feel after just a few repetitions of the mantra.
When we chant Om aloud, the vibrations reach our ears through both the bone and the air, which diffuses the power of the mantra to some degree, although it still remains quite effective. If we take measures to ensure that the vibration is only transmitted through the bones, the power of the chanting is magnified. Here are two interesting and easy ways to experience this.
As a solo practice, you can lie in the bathtub, submerge your ears, and chant, ensuring that the sound waves are only transmitted through the bones. Doing this for a few minutes should produce an altered state of consciousness.
It is more interesting and more intense to try the partnered approach. Stand facing each other and place your heads side by side so that your right ears are aligned. Press your heads together so that your ears are touching and sealed off. Cover your partner’s other ear with your right hand, and have your partner do the same to you. This will block out most, if not all, the airborne sound waves. Next chant Om together several times, while making sure you have sealed off the ear openings as fully as you can. Feel the vibrations and hear the combined sounds reverberating through your head. You may notice some surprising sensations and hear a variety of overtones. In addition to being interesting and consciousness-altering, this can be a very effective way of, literally, harmonizing with each other.