Tibetan Meditation: Sacred Sounds

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Place...of wellness Videos-on-Demand 2008
Duration: 0:25:53

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[Music]

Alejandro Chaoul:

Hello. So, in this Tibetan meditation class, we will focus on the sacred sounds. These come from the Tibetan Bon tradition and what I would like to bring to you today is practice of the Ah, Om, and Hung. These three sounds each of them help us to dispel obstacles, to connect to ourselves, and to bring a particular quality that we need the most and then to bring it into our everyday life and to share it with others. So, as we say Ah, Om, and Hung and we will sing it together, we will focus on three parts, the Ah, we will focus on the forehead, the Om we will focus on the throat area, and the Hung we will focus on the heart and also as we say those we will also use colors, light colors so it helps in focusing the mind on the sound. So, as we say Ah, we will focus on white light and this white light is almost like an energetic boom. As we say Ah, whatever discomfort is there, we will dispel it with the Ah and with the white light. And then as we say Om, we will focus on the throat area. Now, as we focus on the throat area is red light and that red light is focusing on feeling more complete, more full, but also if we feel that we need to bring a particular quality, may be joy or love or peace of mind or compassion or equanimity whatever it is we will just feel that with that Om. If we bring it, we feel more settled and then we will come to the heart level. And here it's blue light and with this blue light and the Hung and Hung, although we write it Hung, it's pronounced like Hoong. With this sound of Hung, we will bring that sense of stability of completeness and also of that quality that we retrieved, we bring it into our everyday life, situations that need that quality, let's say we are bringing joy, maybe situations where we need to put more joy in our lives, maybe it is in our job or in our relationship to others or to even to ourselves and also as we share in those particular situations in our life, we can also share with others heart to heart with that Hung. So, in order to get more comfortable with the sounds, we will first do the breathing part as we did in the last class. And, as we do first the breath, then we will incorporate the sounds and the sounds we'll do them in the exhalation. So, let's start with the body. So, the body, remember, you want to be as comfortable as you can in that cushion, in the chair, on the bed, but being seated if possible and feeling that that cushion, that chair, that bed is supporting you and that the whole earth is really supporting you as you also feel the space around you, supporting you, embracing you, and take a deep and joyful breath.

[Breathing sounds]

And you can feel that it is not just a space around us that is embracing us, but it is actually this whole universe and you can imagine that particular place that helps you being more connected, maybe that space in the mountains or in the ocean or in the forest. Take another deep and joyful breath.

[Breathing sounds]

As you allow the shoulders to relax and the chest area to expand bringing the hands together in the equanimity posture and allow those shoulders to relax. Keep on breathing. Allow the shoulders to relax a little more. Your eyes can be open or closed, whatever is comfortable for you. If they are open, let them point to the tip of the nose and then into the ground into a peaceful gaze. If they are closed, don't let them be too tight, just relaxed and closed slightly as you keep on breathing keeping the back straight and the shoulders relaxed, the chest area open. Keep on breathing. Remembering that you can use that breath to nurture as you inhale to cleanse as you exhale. Doing a few breath in that way cleansing and nurturing, feeling more centered, more settled, and that more comfortable state of mind.

[Breathing sounds]

As you feel a little bit more comfortable, more settled, still keep the body relaxed, but also alert and we bring the mind's attention to the forehead. And as you bring the mind's attention to the forehead, you feel like white light, like open space, you can feel like the space of the sky and the mountains or in the desert, open cloudless sky, take a deep moment to visualize yourself in that openness, in that empty vast sky and take a deep breath. And, as you feel comfortable in that space, maybe a sense that there is a kind of discomfort that arises. Maybe it's a tension in the body or pain. Maybe there is anxiety, maybe there is fear. Maybe there are thoughts that are disturbing you. Just let them come up, let them be like clouds in that sky, but don't judge them. Don't try and think why is this thought here again or this emotion or this pain, just let them be there, non-judgmentally, just let them be there. And now with the sound of the Ah and the white light there is this energetic boom with the power of the meditation and the Ah and the visualization of the white light, we can allow those obstacles or discomforts to slowly go away and be back in that comfortable space, so slowly as we keep the back straight and shoulders relaxed, the focus of our attention is on the forehead. We visualize that white light and as we start saying the sound of Ah, and you can say it at my rhythm or you can say it at your own rhythm, just feel comfortable, but as you say the Ah, visualize that white light that helps you clear away that discomfort that obstacle, we will do it a few times.

Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah...

Keep on breathing and feel that through the power of the Ah sound and the vibration of the Ah together with that white clear light, you are able to dispel that cloud, part of that cloud or that discomfort, that obstacle as you keep on breathing, you can feel more comfortable in that space. The space that is more clear and as you feel more clear that space externally you feel more clear internally, more comfortable in that meditative state, keep on breathing, feeling more relaxed, more aware in that open sky and open space. Without losing that sense of openness, we are going to focus now on the throat as you bring the mind's attention on the throat area, we're going to visualize the red light. The red light is supporting our sense of completeness or fullness that nothing is lacking. Its like the sun, now thoroughly present in that open sky, so feel like that sun with a sound of Om and the support of the red light, we can feel that sense of completeness but also if we need to retrieve a quality maybe want to retrieve joy or love, compassion, equanimity, peace of mind, whatever you feel that you need the most. As you say Om, you can feel that with that help of the red light, you bring that quality back to the throat area and feel that we are settling and becoming more and more complete. So, as we say Om and again you can say it at your rhythm. When we say Om, we will feel that sense of more completeness and if we need to we'll retrieve a quality allowing us to feel more complete. So, let's do the Om remembering the support of the red light, the focus at the throat level and it's like that sun being thoroughly present in the open sky. So, let's do it together.

Om... Om... Om... Om... Om... Om... Om... Om... Om... Om...

Keep on breathing, feel that through the sound and vibration of Om and the support of the red light, feel more settled, more complete. Keep on breathing and feel that having retrieved, brought back that quality that you need at the most, feel more settled, more complete, a sense that nothing is lacking. Keep on breathing. Maintaining that sense of openness and of presence and now the sense of completeness, we will now bring the focus at the heart level supported by the blue light and with the support of the sound of Hung, we will bring that quality, that sense of completeness into our everyday life. It's now like the rays of the sun now shining in particular areas in our life. Maybe it's something with our job, with our relationship, relationship with someone in particular in our lives, relationship with others, even relationship with ourselves. So as we say Hung, we bring that sense of completeness and that sense of that quality that we retrieved and bring in into our lives, into those particular circumstances of our lives and also as we are sharing it in that way of spreading like the sun rays, it also touches the hearts of other and we allow to share those qualities with others as well. So keeping the back straight and the shoulders relaxed, focusing at the heart level, feeling the support of the blue light, we will continue with the Hung remembering that it's bringing those qualities that we retrieved and that especially that sense of completeness into particular circumstances of our lives and also the life of others.

Hung... Hung... Hung... Hung... Hung... Hung... Hung... Hung... Hung...

Keep on breathing as you feel that the power of the Hung sound and Hung vibration with the support of the blue light, we are able to bring those qualities and that sense of completeness into different parts of our lives where we need it the most. Keep on breathing to settle in that knowing that we planted the seeds for those things to manifest. Now we are also sharing with others that sense of completeness and that quality that we have gathered, sharing it heart to heart, mind heart to mind heart feeling that as I receive that I feel more joyful, more complete. As we keep on breathing, remember that this sense of being more connected, feeling more relaxed and more complete, something that we can bring into our everyday life and adjust in our meditation practice, but in different movements in our life, in our daily life. So, slowly as we maintain that sense of connection, that sense of presence of awareness without needing to open the eyes yet, we can start relaxing the body by stretching our legs, relaxing the toes and the ankles and the knees. You can massage the knees a little bit if you need to relaxing also the torso and the shoulders, especially both shoulders, relaxing the arms and the elbows, the wrists, the fingers, but keep on breathing, maintain that sense of connection as you relax the shoulders a little more and the throat, and the neck and the head, different parts of the head and all the muscles in our face and the eyes. Keep on breathing taking the time that you need to slowly start opening the eyes and allowing to integrate to the external world, to our everyday life remembering but we can maintain this sense of relax and presence and clarity in our everyday life. Have a wonderful day.

[Music]

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