Naad / Mantra – The Five Pillars of Kundalini Yoga – 4/5

Naad is the essence of vibration itself; it is the power that manifested from the primal nothingness and sparked the birth of the universe. It is eternal and within all.

Everything has a vibration, which for many yogis (and physicists) is common knowledge. This includes the various levels of consciousness–– each field of consciousness has a unique pattern, from which concordant manifestations arise: “I hate myself” emerges from a destructive field, whereas “waheguru” emerges from a field of divine bliss or ecstacy.

When we go to the essence of a thing’s vibration, we go to its naad. Each mantra is a manifestation of the quality of the field of consciousness from which it originates. This is what gives mantras their power. As a device on the spiritual path, a mantra is basically meaningless unless the practitioner makes contact with its naad, which arises from within through the process of revelation. We may begin to know a mantra through an intellectual, conceptual explanation or translation, but it is the Inner Teacher, the soul, the true guru, who calls the power of the naad up from within you for you to encounter and experience it.

The act of chanting can be incredibly deep and sophisticated. Basically, the resonance of the vibrations in the chest, throat, and oral cavity help stimulate and balance the secretions of the endocrine organs like the thalamus, thyroid, pituitary, hypothalamus, and pineal glands. And, like the breath (pavan), mantra can be a vehicle for our deeper intentions. As such, regardless of the mantra, intention determines the sound current we access when chanting. This is a function of free will and becomes the grounds to practice devotion.

Core Concepts

Man = mind tra(ng) = wave	Mantra vibrations resonate through all physical tissues and promote healing
Repetition of chanting (japa) creates psychic heat (tapa) burns through karma	Mantra moves us from content (sound/form) into context (field/source)
na = nothing ad = primal	The Divine Breath and the Word are what ignited the birth of the universe