Language is more than just a means of
communication. It influences our
culture and even our thought processes. During the first four decades of the 20th
century, language was viewed by American linguists and anthropologists as being
more important than it actually is in shaping our perception of reality. This was mostly due to Edward Sapir and his
student Benjamin Whorf who said that language predetermines what we see in the
world around us. In other words,
language acts like a polarizing lens on a camera in filtering reality--we see
the real world only in the categories of our language.
Cross cultural comparisons of such things as color
terms were used by Sapir and Whorf as evidence of this hypothesis. When we perceive color with our eyes, we are
sensing that portion of electromagnetic radiation that is visible light. In fact, the spectrum of visible light is a
continuum of light waves with frequencies that increase at a continuous rate
from one end to the other. In other
words, there are no distinct colors like red and green in nature. Our culture, through language, guides us in
seeing the spectrum in terms of the arbitrarily established categories that we
call colors. Different cultures may
divide up the spectrum in different ways.
Brain
Cleaner
The vocal
vibrations associated with human use of language cause a cleansing of the
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF): CSF continuously bathes the brain, (see
illustration) washing out chemical waste. It is hypothesized that the skull
vibrations caused by vocalizations are primarily responsible for “agitating”
the CSF, thereby increasing its cleansing power much like a washing machine
agitates clothing. It follows that a brain with less chemical waste will be
capable of higher thought forms and deeper concentration.
If this is
so, it may be one of the reasons why Homo Sapiens evolved thinner skulls than
did other competing hominids. A thinner skull would transmit proportionally
more vibration into the CSF:
“Vibrations of human skull, as produced by loud
vocalizations, exert a massaging effect on the brain and facilitate elution of
metabolic products from the brain into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)...The
Neanderthals had a brain 15% larger than we have, yet did not survive in
competition with modern humans. Their brains were more polluted, because their
massive skulls did not vibrate and therefore the brains were not sufficiently cleaned.
In the evolution of modern humans the thinning of the cranial bones was
important.”(Jindrak).
It follows
that vibrations associated with all human vocal sounds would conform to this
hypothesis; chanting, humming, or any external vibratory phenomena such as
drumming, bell chiming or other sound related rites, which could also effect
sympathetic vibrations in the skull. These and other types of sound use have
been an integral part of human culture since earliest times. In evolutionary
terms, cultures which engaged in these activities had the benefit of improved
brain function, and consequently, better survival strategies. As one of many
biological survival mechanisms, Homo Sapiens has retained the instinctual need
for skull vibrations.Music and other sound rites today may simply be another
product of millions of years of evolution.
Mantra
The mantras chanted in Tantric Yoga and other
meditative/ritual chanting would in fact be far more “vibratory” to the skull than speech.
“The root words man (mind) and tra (instrument of)
are joined to produce the Sanskrit word mantra. The specific usage of this term
is reserved to describe the relationship of sound to subtle mental dynamics. In
tantrism, sound is understood to be the most powerful instrument of mind, and
the Tantric tradition serves to unite the inner and outer worlds. Sounds
themselves are of primary concern; that is, consonants and vowels rather than
their combinations to form words as is done in a conventional language.” (Pankaj)
[Italics mine].
Vocal vibrations are indeed at the core of
other esoteric traditions, and chanting/singing are certainly a major part of
almost every religion. States of higher consciousness associated with religious
ecstasy usually coincide with chanting and vocalized prayer. Could these
phenomena be caused by just a physio-mechanical cleansing or do vibrations have
some other direct affect on portions of the brain/nervous system? In yoga, the
centers or chakras are defined in terms of areas of the body. Since these areas
are in direct control of the brain/nervous system, it follows that vibrations
affecting certain parts of the brain would consequently affect centers in the body.
There are 8 “transcendental ecstasies” that can be achieved through mantra yoga
: (1) being stopped as though dumb, (2) perspiration, (3) standing up of
hairs on the body, (4) dislocation of voice, (5) trembling, (6) fading of the
body,(7) crying in ecstasy, and (8) trance.” (Prabhupada) The Tantric tradition
suggested to me that these vibrations were perhaps acting directly on parts of
the brain receptive to sonic vibration.
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