Religious Rhythms

Music does not only connect to your mood, but also to your religion, creating a diverse relationship together.

When you hear music from your religion if you have one, what does it sound like to you?

Many say its the voices of god, with the spiritual forms, praised purely through the words, advance beliefs and worshiping them to please a religious and secular life.

Throughout the centuries of the human history, religious pieces or texts, have been sung from the soul and not written, it has become the ‘musical articulation in almost every religion’ as according to the encyclopedia.

Northern Eurasia and inner Asia mainly use music as the prime source of contact to the spiritual world in which they believe.

In the Sinhala traditional region, the priests are the ‘singers’ and the primary carriers are dancers and drummers. Likewise, priests, monks, and other specialists have sung the Buddhist pujas, Christian masses, Islamic callers fro prayers, Hindu sacrifices and various other ceremonies for religions around the world.

Elements such as instruments, forms, and sounds have been used in various cultures to create a musical life for the religions.

In some parts of the world, you may hear it through the form of chants, hums or instrumental music, whereas in other parts of the world it might be through the rhythmic beats from claps and stomps, as well as shouts.

Think about how you use different social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Snapchat, Instagram and many more, to communicate with one another. Just like that, all these forms of music are used to “communicate with the divine, unite religious communities and to express moral, political, social and economic aspirations”, according to Smithsonian music.

Relating back to ‘A healthy lifestyle lead with music’, the vibrations caused by the sounds produced by ‘god’ are known to be healing methods and pathways to an individual’s mind and body.

At one point you may feel joyous but humans have the capability to turn sorrow in the next moment. These capabilities are infused into chants, songs, and poetry, becoming one of the most powerful tools for inspiration in cultures.

Out of the vast traditions of the religions all around the world, some of them implement the use of sacred sounds to bring peace to the state of mind. For example, in the United States, Christianity is the dominant religion which also upholds sacred texts which are seemed to be like sacred sounds; “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord”; “Come before his presence with singing” (Psalm 100: 1-2); “My Lord, He calls me by the thunder… the trumpets sound within my soul…” (from “Steal Away” [African American spiritual]) – Smithsonian Music

Likewise, in other cultures such as in ancient India, and their sacred texts from the Vedics also teach that “The essence of sacred knowledge in word and sound, and the essence of word and sound is OM.”

Sacred sounds are spread amongst cultures as a way to acknowledge consciousness, thoughts, and actions, activities that are further connected with the inner recesses of the universe, despite the fact that many of the religious rituals are esoteric to other cultures.

You come home from school and you are busy with homework, just like your parents coming back from work, only to do more and feel stressed and tensed.

Similarly, many people in the modern world, people are often too busy to find time to visit temples / Churches/ Mosques and are not able to be distracted from a stressed world to collect a calm peace of mind through the connection with the spiritual world. However, when they put on the religious music, the power in the sacred sounds are used to ease the person’s stress and creates a more positive environment for them.

A person who has for a significant amount of times referred to religious music for peace and a relief from stress would be my mother:

Question: “What type of music do you listen to for peace?”

Answer: ” I listened to Buddha mantra meditation music”

Question: “Why do you think it helps you?”

Answer: “It helps me because I receive positive vibes by listening to it. Though I am not Buddhist, it doesn’t matter what type of music you listen to, as long as it helps you to be distracted from the stress of reality”

Question: “Does it help reduce stress and clear your thoughts? Explain.”

Answer: “Yes, as my negativity goes away and I feel more lighter and relaxed after listening to this meditation music.