Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Untying the Knots - Spirit in the Sound

The Spirit is in the Sound... or is it?

by The High Priest of Prickly Bog


Recently I received this e-mail from a friend. We all get these things from time to time.Perhaps some of you have sent them on without really paying too much attention, or deciding whether you agree with it or not. Normally I don't forward anything I don't believe in, but I felt this needed a response. I have edited out names and spelling mistakes, of which there were many.
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For all divine souls

An interesting fact
it is a fact that the chakras of our body have the same amount of petals as the sanskrit alphabet. that is why every word of the mantra has a special energy...

Dr. Howard Steingeril, an american scientist, collected Mantras, Hymns and invocations from all over the world and tested their strength in his Physiology Laboratory..

Hindus' Gayathri Mantra produced 110,000 sound waves per second. This was the highest and was found to be the most powerful hymn in the world.

Through the combination of sound or sound waves of a particular frequency, the Mantra is claimed capable of developing specific spiritual potentialities.

The Hamburg university initiated research into the efficacy of the Gayathri Mantra both on the mental and physical plane of CREATION...

The GAYATHRI MANTRA is broadcast daily for 15 minutes from 7 P.M. onwards over Radio Paramaribo,Surinam, South America for the past two years, and in Amsterdam, Holland for the last six months…
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Hmmm… it is interesting, but being an amateur student of sound, I tend to think that neither a mantra nor a prayer can have an intrinsic frequency. It would be the voice reciting it that has the frequency. And no voice has a frequency of 110 khz (110,000 cycles per second). The highest that human ears can hear is 20khz, so even assuming that there could be inaudible effects on the body of some faster frequencies, 110khz stretches the imagination. And as far as I know there are no radios, even in Holland, that can reproduce 110khz. And if there was one, we would need new loudspeaker technology in order to hear it, because even the best, most expensive speakers do not go that high.

Not only that, but the idea that there would be a consistent frequency for a series of words is not feasible. One frequency means one note (One very high, inaudible note, in this case). Even if you were to say every word at the same pitch, the act of verbalizing the vowels and consonants would change the frequencies of the harmonics at the very least, if not the entire tone. Which brings me to the point that in nature, we never hear a single frequency, even when listening to a consistent tone.

Unless we are listening to a pure sine wave generated by a synthesizer, the quality of each instrument or voice is dictated by the harmonics inherent within it. Harmonics are simply all the frequencies that go into making a single note. A note played on one piano may sound different from the same note played on another piano. This is because the harmonics are slightly different. On a harpsichord the harmonics would be very different… therefore a very different sound to that note. There are many factors that go into creating a sound, including the ambience of the room in which it is generated. The human voice is perhaps the most complex of all instruments and will, even without trying, create the greatest variety of sounds and frequencies. My point being– no prayer or hymn simply produces one frequency every time.

Look, I have a firm belief in the connection between spirituality and science. I believe that the material of our world is made up of frequencies more akin to sound and light than to the solid objects that they represent themselves as. But reality is reality. Straying too far from what we know to be true is not going to lead us to that spiritual godhead that we seek. Follow the truth and not ignorant beliefs. The clues are all around us, and science IS the friend of the true seeker. So let's not invent shit, that makes educated people think that we are nuts.

Perhaps there is some truth to the origins of this story, (I cannot fathom it personally) but like a game of rumors it has gone through so many evolutions that it no longer makes sense in the real world. If we're going to repeat a story that we've heard, let's make sure that we understand it clearly before doing so. There is no dishonor in withholding judgment until we can check the facts. Unfortunately most humans will believe anything as long as it "proves" what they want it to.

But the road to spiritual enlightenment is not so easy. It requires a hard look at what IS, not what we want it to be. Let us all get into the habit of reserving judgment, and believing that even what we know that we know might be subject to change as and when more data comes in. And if we don't understand something completely, let's not go blabbing it all over town as if god personally told it to us. Let's just stay calm, research it, and increase our knowledge of what IS. And please remember, just because you read it in an e-mail, or on the internet, doesn't make it true.

For me, acknowledging reality and the universe, the way they actually are, is the first step on the road to becoming one with reality and the universe.
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For those interested in some real science that draws connections with spirituality, I highly recommend a book called, "Stalking the Wild Pendulum," by Itzhak Bentov.
http://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Wild-Pendulum-Mechanics-Consciousness/dp/0892812028
Or check him out on YouTube: http://youtu.be/pM_nCFugdkw
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Some information from the web:
Normal human hearing is pretty good, ranging from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Of course, for humans to actually perceive 20 Hz or 20,000 Hz, the intensity of sound would have to be rather unbearable and, indeed, dangerously loud! Nonetheless, normal human hearing is totally adequate for human speech perception (which is arguably second in line to perceiving warning sounds indicative of immediate impending danger).
However, despite being perched at the top of the food chain, human hearing pales in comparison to many other animals, primates, and fish. For example, despite similar low frequency abilities, the high frequency hearing of many breeds of dog can reach 45,000 Hz, cats can hear up to 64,000 Hz (although they don’t care), rats hear up to 76,000 Hz, bats are amazing at 110,000 Hz, beluga whales can perceive 123,000 Hz, and porpoises can hear up to 150,000 Hz (see http://www.lsu.edu/deafness/ HearingRange.html). So clearly, being at the top of the food chain appears to have little correlation with our limited ability to hear.