Alanna Kaivalya - Sacred Sound: Discovering the Myth and Meaning of Mantra and Kirtan

Alanna Kaivalya bravely tackles the subtlest, most elusive of all spiritual methods: the power of sound compelling vibrations conveyed to our innermost selves through ancient mantra. Then she adds layers of meaning by laying out the fascinating mythic stories at their core. Its an inspiring and potent potion for spiritual growth.

Jack Hawley, author of the award-winning Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners

Alanna Kaivalya is a storyteller, bard, and great teacher, using mythology and mantra to reintroduce us to deep basic truths. She effortlessly weaves story and sound/vibration into tools for navigating our internal wilderness. Sacred Sound helps us to understand and feel the archetypes that sing to us and shows us how they call us to unfold from within.

Ana T. Forrest, creator of Forrest Yoga and author of Fierce Medicine

Enter yogas secret weapon: Alanna Kaivalya.With her knack for serving up ancient yogic philosophies in accessible ways, she is a much sought-after feature at teacher trainings around the globe. Her first book Myths of the Asanas, brimming with juicy tales of love, battle, and heroism breaks down yoga mythology and philosophy in such intriguing and accessible ways youll never think of Dancers Pose the same way again.

Sweat Equity

Alanna and Arjuna moved down an amazing road of story and myth that truly enhances our yogic lessons. Some of the nuances of ethics, posture, breath, and meditation can only be touched through metaphor and mythology, and we thank her for taking us on this journey.

Rodney Yee, yoga instructor and coauthor of Yoga: The Poetry of the Body

What I love most about this treasure of a book is that it faithfully reminds me of the roots behind our modern-day approach to yoga. I am truly grateful to Alanna and Arjuna for providing us with such a delightfully accessible handbook on the vibrant history of our practice.

Rusty Wells, yoga instructor and founder of Urban Flow yoga studio

Myths of the Asanas transports us to a world where gods and goddesses, saints, and enlightened animals serve as our teachers. Each story reminds us that underneath the many layers of difference, essentially we are One. These inspired tales have the power to transform and revolutionize your yoga.

MC Yogi, hip-hop artist and yoga instructor

Also by Alanna Kaivalya

Myths of the Asanas:
The Stories at the Heart of the Yoga Tradition
(with Arjuna van der Kooij)

Copyright 2014 by Alanna Kaivalya

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Text design by Tona Pearce Myers

Illustrations by Christopher Yeazel

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kaivalya, Alanna, date, author.

Sacred sound : discovering the myth and meaning of mantra and kirtan / Alanna Kaivalya.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60868-243-0 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-60868-244-7 (ebook)

1. Mantras. 2. Kirtana (Hinduism) 3. Yoga. I. Title.

BL1236.36.K335 2014

First printing, April 2014

ISBN 978-1-60868-243-0

Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story

HOMER

No matter if she is teaching a workshop or holding court at a caf, Alanna Kaivalyas approach to mantra, mythology, and philosophy artfully balances magic, logic, mystery, humor, and practicality. Her wide-ranging interests and her joyful unorthodoxy are among the many reasons I find her such an engaging friend and companion. So its perfect that she conceived this book in the aftermath of an incident in which knowledge of myths and mantras turned out to be very useful.

Several years ago, Alanna, tabla player Miles Shrewsbery, and I traveled to Asia to teach and play music at a yoga training retreat. We arrived at the airport at 2 AM after a long connecting flight from Seoul. Miles and I sailed through immigration, but Alanna was not so lucky. As I was withdrawing the local currency from the cash machine in baggage claim, I was summoned by an official. Alanna had been detained. There was a problem with her passport, and they were sending her back to New York.

I was guided to a back office to discuss the situation. From the immigration officers tone of voice, I knew right away that I was going to have to arrange some sort of consideration for Alanna to be admitted to the country. Im an experienced traveler, but this was the first time I had been in this kind of situation. My thoughts were, How can I accomplish my aim discreetly, and not make things even more difficult than they already are?

This part of Asia is filled with statues of the elephant-headed god Gaea (Ganesh), the lord of obstructions. To meditate on the qualities of Gaea is to observe that the way through the obstacle is often hidden in the obstacle itself. Although the immigration officer appeared to stand in our way, we understood that if we had the right attitude and paid close attention, he might also show us how to conduct ourselves. Mentally repeating the mantra gaea araa (see the Ga Gaapataye Nama kirtan, ) helped us remain calm and focused.

Looking at the situation from this perspective, we could see how the officer was subtly cueing our responses every step of the way. There is no corruption in this country, he stated. So we praised his ethics, and remarked on his education. The law is strict, he said, but he himself was a compassionate man. We replied that we understood the severity of the situation, and truly regretted our ignorance of certain regulations. We acknowledged that in taking the time to find a solution to the problem with us, he had showed us consideration and respect, and we wondered if there might be a way we could show our appreciation.

Our little movie went on like this for some time. We all kept our cool and played our parts. Eventually, we were able to come to an agreement by which it was possible to receive expedited processing. Then he disappeared for a few agonizing minutes. But he returned with a courteous smile and a freshly stamped passport, and he welcomed us to his country.

The myths and mantras of the yoga tradition are not relics gathering dust in some museum. They are flexible, practical tools that can be very helpful guides to the dilemmas of modern living. Yoga isnt a belief system; its a method of inquiry into the nature of the mind, the heart, and the universe. Its also an oral tradition that emphasizes practice and experience. The mantras are meant to be sung and spoken until the practitioner becomes their very embodiment. You start out chanting the mantras, but after a while, they start to chant you.