SACRED RAGAS

Sacred ragas is a spiritual journey from the heart of Australia to the kingdom of bliss or “sat chit ananda”,  a Sanskrit word describing our true nature.   It is a journey that seeks to use music as the medium for connecting us with Divinity. To tune oneself to the harmony, beauty and joy of music is the real spiritual attainment.

  The vehicle we have chosen for our journey is Indian classical music – (raga sangeet) which is one of the world’s most dynamic musical systems and certainly one of the oldest the traditions, of which is seemingly without beginning. Whilst Indian classical music is always set in raga, all raga music is not necessarily classical .In our album of sacred ragas we have chosen to experience the journey in a mood that is more contemporary and more attuned to our personalities and culture.

  ‘Raga” is derived from the Sanskrit root “ranja”, meaning to colour the mind and also to please. Technically speaking a raga is a sequence of notes or swaras. But there is a lot more to this, as there are many characteristics required to establish the many fine features of any particular raga.

As ragas were never codified but were transmitted orally from teacher to student, they tended to vary greatly across regions, traditions, styles and schools. The ragas, as we have performed them in sacred ragas, whilst established in tradition, have been inspired spontaneously in the recording of this album. They are an aesthetic projection of our inner spirit and a representation of our most profound sentiments and sensibilities. It is said that the ragas have no vitality or life force by itself and the musician themselves have to breathe life into them.

  God Almighty, it is said, inspired the great rishis who were a class of saintly beings from legendary times that were considered super human, living a pure life of meditation dedicated to wisdom and knowledge. They originated and developed theories in all branches of the arts and sciences and passed them on to their disciples. They passed on the knowledge that sound is God- Nada Brahma - and the musical experience is a journey to the realization of the self. The highest blessings of music were given to a chosen few as in it contained the knowledge of the workings of the universe. The laws of music are found to mirror the exact miniature of the laws working throughout the whole Universe.

  In Indian classical music the mind and the body are seen as a whole where music is the link that brings about balance. This knowledge comes from the Vedas (books of sacred scriptures of Indian spirituality composed in Sanskrit}. The Vedas are four in number.  They are the rig veda, the sama veda, yajur veda and atharva veda. The word Veda means knowledge and in it are contained the eternal truths revealed by God to man. The roots of Indian music come from the Vedic chants - in particular the Sam Veda.  Different sounds and different sequences of notes produce specific frequencies that influence different cells of our bodies in varying proportions. Keynotes in the raga and their relationships to each other can bring about a therapeutic effect and provide profound healing.

Human beings possess certain qualities. It is said that these qualities are housed in specific charkas.  Chakra is a Sanskrit word for ‘wheel’ and the chakras are seen as spinning wheels of energy (vortices) that emit specific frequencies.  These energy centres were described thousands of years ago in the ancient sacred texts. They can also be seen as milestones or archetypal depictions of our evolution through seven major stages of development. It is these qualities, relationships and frequencies that have defined the album of sacred ragas.

Each raga or composition also has a particular frequency and when the frequencies of the combination of notes match the natural frequency of the chakra, it becomes activated. (Frequency is the measurement of the number of oscillations per second). Modern living tends to unbalance these subtle energy centres.  A rebalance of these centres will put us back ‘in sync’. 

 - Sarah M.

"I absolutely love Sacred Ragas.  I have listened to it so much that I have almost worn it out."

- Gordon Chambers, Sydney, Australia

"I cannot tell you how much I have been moved by Sacred Ragas when I do yoga or meditate.  There is especially the track called Soul.  It always makes my body vibrate extra strong."

- Marilyn, Chicago , USA

Sacred Ragas - TRACK DESCRIPTION

Track 1 - Abwoon D'Bashmaya        Listen

The Lords prayer is sung in the original language of Christ  - Syrian Aramaic  - and is an original interpretation of this classic.

The journey through the spiritual centres begins at Track 3 which is based on Raag Bilawal, a morning raga that is influenced by the Australian landscape and features the didgeridoo. It relates to the base chakra. It represents the beginning of life and epitomizes the qualities of joy, wisdom, child like innocence, stability and foundation.  

Track 4 is based on Raag yaman  which has a light playful soothing quality. It is complemented by the African harp or kora. In the course of evolution man translated his need for shelter into an appreciation of his sense of aesthetics, his creativity evolved into abstract form where he could imagine, project and create an image. So the fundamental quality here is locating the pool of beauty where our creativity can be truly expressed.  

Track 5 is a composition based on Raag Malkosh.  It is a yearning for fulfilment, satisfaction, nourishment and the appreciation of living a dharmic life (right living).  It relates to the solar plexus chakra where man feels his first need, hunger, and represents the evolutionary point when man’s shelter became “ a home” and the family became a source of satisfaction in itself rather than only a channel for reproduction.  

Track 6 has the quality of stimulating the heart urging it to open and emit its pure vibrational energy so we can experience the love and the joy of the spirit. The composition is based on raag bhairav and is supplemented by Indian percussion instruments.  

Track 7 is a devotional song based on raag jajavanti. It corresponds to the throat chakra and represents the evolutionary time in humanity when the need for harmonious and collective living became important. It has the qualities of experiencing the brotherhood of humanity and the unity of the spirit with diplomacy.

Track 8  - raag bageshri was the basis of the composition here using the kyrie chant. The raga corresponds to the sixth chakra and represents the sixth stage of man’s evolution. It has been influenced by the writings of C S Lewis, who tells an interesting story in his book, "The Great Divorce." A busload of ghosts is making an excursion from hell up to heaven with a view of remaining there permanently. They meet the citizens of heaven and one very big ghost from hell is astonished to find there a man, who on earth, had been tried and executed for murder.
"What I would like to know," he explodes, "is what are you doing here, you a murderer, while I a pillar of society, a self-respecting decent citizen am forced to walk the streets down there in smoke and fumes and must live in a place like a pigsty." His friend from heaven tries to explain that he has been forgiven, that both he and the man he had murdered have been reunited before the judgment seat of Christ. But the big ghost from hell replies, "I just can't buy that!" "My rights!" he keeps shouting, "I have got to have my rights the same as you!" "Oh no!" his friend from heaven keeps reassuring him, "It's not as bad as all that! You don't want your rights! Why, if I had gotten my rights, I would never be here. You'll not get your rights; you'll get something far better. You will get the mercy of God.”
This is why we pray,” Lord, have mercy. Christ have mercy ’ or” Kyrie eleison”, Christe eleison”. This prayer, uttered with faith, opens the way for us to enter the final destination with God's forgiveness and for the coming of His kingdom in our hearts.  

"Track 9 is the culmination of the journey and the basis of the composition is Raag Darbari. The music relates to the seventh chakra. All barriers of race, colour, beliefs and opinion fall away and are replaced by silence, joy and bliss beyond our wildest imagination, it is an experience of heaven on earth. It is a deep, meaningful and slow raag that features the sitar; the last part of the raga is a prayer to the Divine. This dimension was described by Carl Jung as the “universal unconscious”. Mahatma Gandhi termed it the “Divine radio”.

The end point of the journey through the spiritual centres brings us into a meditative state of “thoughtless awareness” where we are completely spontaneous, drawing knowledge and awareness directly from the cosmic principles without the intellect getting in the way. Our human consciousness has the potential to tune into the infinite and enlightenment develops spontaneously. The great sages have sung the praises of this dimension and it has been described in the most poetic language as the union between the lover and the beloved. The Buddha called it the Void; it has also been termed Nirvana, or Satori. In the Vedas it is called moksha and Christ called it the kingdom of heaven.  

The album finishes with the Gayatri mantra, said to be one of the oldest and most powerful of all Sanskrit mantras.

”As the sun dispels darkness the gayatri mantra destroys ignorance energizing all earthly life and guides our intellect in the right direction”.

Many parents have reported that their babies and young children are greatly calmed when they play the album for them.  They claim that it has the effect of quieting the child and getting them into a settled, sleep state.  People say that they often leave it on continuous rotation, as they love the gentle space that the album creates.  This is the healing effect of the Indian Ragas at work...

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