Listening to the Unstruck Sound: Sanskrit as a Tool for Meditation with Shanta Bulkin *
Sundays, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Eastern Time - Online Only via Zoom
Open Donation to the Ashram. Suggested for entire series $108, or $20 for one session.
Mar 9
Mar 16
Mar 23
Mar 30
Facilitated by Girijā (Andrea) Baker
Why study Sanskrit? Called the "Science of Vibration," the "Science of Pure Sound," Sanskrit is said to be capable of elevating the mind, of taking the practitioner beyond the body and mind to their own essence – "the Absolute Godhood in residence." The purification process felt by chanting has been called the "washing machine of the mind."
In this four-week course the experience of ānahata nādam, "the unstruck sound," will be explored. The internal musical variations become more discernible through the practice of chanting invocations and mantras, as well as Sanskrit noun and verb endings. The connection between the electromagnetic vibration in the hands with the nādam sound in the ears will be investigated There will be readings from Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati's Nāda Yoga booklet and chanting of Vedic mantras.
"What benefit can one derive from the Ṛig Veda mantras or other scriptures if one does not know that God who is all pervading, indestructible and most excellent, in whom reside all the cosmic forces as well as the different orbs – the earth, the sun and so forth – and around whom is centered the quintessence of all the Vedas? But those who not only read the Vedas but also do righteous deeds and practice Yoga, thereby knowing God, they stabilize themselves in Absolute Godhood and attain the highest happiness."
-- Translation of Vedic mantra from Nāda Yoga, by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati (Ramamurti S. Mishra, MD)
Shanta Bulkin met his teacher, Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati (Shri Ramamurti) in 1972 at Ananda Ashram. The Guru's first words to him that fateful summer were: "If you want to stay here you must study Sanskrit!” Though not even knowing what Sanskrit was, he followed his advice and stayed. That summer he also met his soon-to-be wife Indira. For many years, they traveled between Brahmananda Ashram in San Francisco and Ananda Ashram in Monroe, New York. From the late 1990s to 2015, they were fortunate to be able to study with the world-renowned Sanskrit scholar Dr. Ram Karan Sharma.
