Do you listen? REALLY listen? And I’m not talking about listening to people, or music, or even dialogue (which seems to be the buzzword these days for deep listening.)

What I’m talking about is listening to the universe. Turning off the radio, the TV, and anything else that makes noise and giving our hearts over to the deep sound that fills the universe, and from which all music ultimately originates.

The problem is that in our religious activities we fill our heads with too much information, so much that we don’t have a chance to listen with our hearts. As a friend of mine recently said to me when I asked her why she had stopped coming to church, “There are too many words.” She’s right. But something is happening soon that will give all of us a chance to embrace the soul of the universe through sound.

This weekend Louisvillewill be visited by a wonderful spiritual leader named Russill Paul. He is a native of southern Indiawho brings together in his life the spirituality and practices of both Hinduism and Christianity, Russill will be leading a daylong workshop on the Yoga of Sound.

Russill says, “Knowledgeably informing our spiritual practice with a sonic dimension is crucial to our finding balance in modern western society that has long been weaned on excessive nutrition to the eyes. The Yoga of Sound offers a contemporary platform that unifies thousands of years of research into the relationship between sound, music and consciousness. The ancient practice of mantra together with the therapeutic use of sacred music is rapidly being rediscovered today as an efficacious means in the overall support of better health, vibrant mental powers and profound spiritual fulfillment.”

In 1984, Russill underwent a powerful spiritual transition that motivated him to live the unusual combination of a Benedictine monk and yogi under the direction of Dom Bede Griffiths.  Dom Bede was a pioneering Benedictine monk and revered sage who directed Shantivanam, a Benedictine monastery that expressed itself through the yogic culture of India.

During the five years he spent as a monk, Russill Paul studied traditional Sanskrit chanting and South Indian Classical Music as well as yoga, meditation, philosophy and cosmology. In addition to his training at the monastery, Russill was initiated into sacred learning in several ancient temple cities of South India that propagate the arts and religious studies.It was during this period that he developed the tools related to his lifework which is , of course, The Yoga of Sound.

According to Russill, “For thousands of years, Hindu spirituality has understood the profound effect that sound has on our well-being, an insight that western medicine is rapidly rediscovering today. In the treatment of Alzheimer’s, cancer, pre and post-surgical trauma, insomnia, and even the dissolving of kidney stones, overwhelming clinical studies have verified that the use of sound (particularly through chanting) can stabilize heart rate, reduce blood pressure, improve circulation, produce endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers), nourish DNA, and generate important proteins in body, such as, interleukin-1 and 2.”

A good portion of the Yoga of Sound concerns itself with chanting, particularly in the ancient language of Sanskrit. Chanting is much simpler than singing and far more energizing than regular speech. This is why spiritual traditions from around the world have successfully employed it in their religious life and rituals of healing for thousands of years. It is now ours to reclaim, reinvent, and reemploy this great gift to our species, aware that it has nothing to do with having a good voice or being musically competent.

If the meditaton practices that many of us follow these days are designed to slow down or even stop the senseless chatter in our minds, then chanting takes us one step further. It helps us replace useless brain waves with the basic sounds and rhythms of the universe.

The Yoga of Sound isn’t the latest fad. On the contrary, it is very possibly the world’s oldest spiritual practice. Cultivating Connections, the organization that along with a number or local groups, is bringing Russill here, chose to do so because the Yoga of Sound is quite possibly the one spiritual activity that brings together all of the elements of the religious life: ritual, silence, sound, prayer, physical discipline, and meditation. And if it is practiced in a truly heartfelt way, gratitude.

Written for the Leo Weekly, by Terry Taylor, Executive Director for Interfarith Paths to Peace. Contact him at director@InterfaithPathstoPeace.org, 502-214-PEAC (7322), or 502-299-7591.

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