Sivarama Swami - Chant more - English - Sample

Śabda: Spiritual Sound Vibration When we chant Hare K'ṣ)a, we are meant to be in contact with Lord K'ṣ)a and His associates. This is the nature of spiritual sound vibration, which is different from the kind of sound vibration that is only heard. When you write Hare K'ṣ)a on a piece of paper, it is as whole and complete as when you speak it. This is śabda. Śabda is not limited to something that is communicable only from the mouth to the ear: the spiritual energy or potency manifests itself in sound, and this is śabda. And because it is spiritual, it does not have the restrictions that material communications have, or which this world has. Generally when we speak of sound we mean material sound, a transmission of information that is heard with the ear. And certainly that is also the characteristic of the spiritual sound vibration, but it is not limited to that. The difference with spiritual sound is that it is more than merely communicating a message: it contains within it and is empowered by a spiritual potency, and that means it represents the spiritual realm and spiritual energies, either in part or whole. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis, that K'ṣ)a’s holy name has all spiritual potency. When we say “how are you?”, how much potency is in that? But when we say Hare K'ṣ)a, then everything that exists within the spiritual world is compressed within that sound vibration. And the presence of that potency is there whether you see it on paper or whether you hear it. 11