This Dialogue is taken from Omenad.net in the Queries Section:
I have a question concerning tuning of instruments. I have read that different pitches affect the chakras differently, and that SA RE GA etc. are associated with the chakras. Are those pitches particularly frequencies, i.e. is a sitar or tambura always tuned to a specific frequency in order to have that effect? Esoteric traditions seem to point to B or C# as having profound effects on the physiology, but I cannot get a straight answer on this from any of the Indian musicians I have spoken with.
Hoping for some clarification.
Donald Sosin
Omenad writes:
There is a passing reference to Naadi-s in Sharanagdev's Sangeet Ratnakar. In shloka 1|3.. he refers to 22 naadi-s which in response to diferent force of air give rise to 22 shruti-s. Pandit Omkar Nath Thakur, singer par excellence writes in his Pranav Bharati that at a young age he had heard his father discuss awakaening of Kundalini through Nada but whether these related to 22 musical shruti-s it is difficult to state.
According to Naadbindoopanishad (shloka 36-46) Naad has the great power of uniting the mind with supreme cleansing it of all worldly objects. Hence the aspirant through practise should endeavour to hear this naad within. In the first stage of meditation one hears ocean waves, streams; in the second, Ghanta (large bell), Mardal; in the final state he hears the sound onf Kinkani, Flute, Veena. That the world does not exist, he'd feel when he attains such blending as of milk and water.
There is no medical corroboration of Chakra-Naadi-Kundalini etc. The practices based on these stress upon "looking within". Quite as rules of Newtonian Physics fail in domain of Quantum, the material truth differs from the spiritual truth. You are using material terms (pitch, B or C#) to measure the spiritual (chakra). The discipline of music limited by rules of Newtonian Sound Physics can supply no answers to spiritual queries. Please check out "Measure for Measure".
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Very rational. Somehow the spiritual philosophy of east gets entangled in mysticism. It is difficult for a questing mind to wade through half-truths and mis-beliefs and get at heart of matter. As Wilde said, a true artiste is dull as he pours all of himself in his art; it is only the half-baked, mediocre one that weaves interesting stories. Some musicians and glib writers are busy promoting another such mis-belief -- music healing. Parental warmth often helps the child to regain strength; this does not imply that people should line up to those very parents for all their ills. Music has the ability to quieten the mind, bring serenity; beyond this, all else is a fancy structure with no foundation.
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