Listen Absorb Transform
The idea of using music for healing is not new. The healing effects of music have been widely recognized and Music Therapy is now quite well-known. Indian classical music has emerged and gained significant repute to produce deep healing effects. The question is how do we define who will be healed by which? How do we find this out?
In Indian classical music, we have several ‘Ragas’ (melodies). There are over several hundred ragas in Indian classical music, of which less than a hundred are well-known. Each raga is a harmonic combination or pattern of specific notes in the major and minor scale. Each raga is played or sung in a particular way with emphasis on certain keynotes. Each raga is denoted to have a specific time, a specific season, a specific mood.
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Dr. Rajan Sankaran is a well-known homeopathic physician and also a student of Indian classical music for decades. He felt that one could use the principle of homeopathy to determine which raga could heal which person. Homeopathy is based on the law of similars which states that ‘like cures like’. Applied to music this would mean that a raga that brings about a certain state in people is capable of healing someone with a similar state.
Careful research has now taken shape into a therapeutic tool, a music app ‘Raga Therapy’ that harnesses the power of the ragas (melodies) from Indian classical music to produce a healing effect. To create this app, Dr. Sankaran would sing a different raga each day to a group of 35 listeners, who would carefully document the effects of each raga on their emotions, on their moods, on their imagination, and on their experience both physically and mentally.
From all the information gathered about the effect of each raga on all these listeners, an algorithm was created. The ‘Raga Therapy’ app is based on such an algorithm meaning thereby that when someone describes his/her current feeling or experience in his/her life according to certain options given, then the logic that is inbuilt into the app will choose and suggest one to three specific ragas that most closely resembles the inner state of the person.
It is said that once when the famous Moghul Emperor Akbar was much exhausted and depressed from his onerous responsibilities, he asked the composer Tansen to create a raga to alleviate these feelings. Instinctively, Tansen created the Raga Darbari which relieved the king.
How did this happen?
We have noted how the raga Darbari relieved the emperor. When this Raga was sung to the group of thirty-five people, it evoked feelings of deep despair and desperation which one could imagine would be somewhat similar to what Emperor Akbar might have been going through. We can suppose that the raga Darbari relieved Akbar because it matched the depth and despair of the state he already was in.
Psychologists treat humans at the level of the mind, but homeopaths treat humans at the level of sensation and experience. A raga can even go deeper than that. Being an energetic influence, it can address the energy pattern within the individual, a pattern that lies deeper than the mind and experience. The healing that occurs at the level of the energy pattern of the individual is likely to be far deeper than those at other levels. Raga Therapy may be the first step in understanding ‘Energy Medicine’ and its healing effects on the individual. When chosen correctly and when it matches the energy state of a person, the music goes to the very core of the being.
From his study and experience, Dr. Rajan concluded that Ragas are not created by man but exist in the universe as distinct ‘ energy patterns’. When we tune into that and plug into the raga, the raga permeates through your entire being and can change your present disease state into a state of ‘ease’ and ‘inner calm’.
Dr. Rajan believes it is better when you don’t sing the raga but allow the raga to sing you. He sang the ragas in their purest form without any embellishments and did not use any rhythm.
The reason for this is clear. Most people listen to music for enjoyment. But this is not the aim here. He wanted people to tune into the pure notes and pattern of the raga to get an authentic experience.
Secondly, he did not use words while singing. Words create images in the mind and can distract the listener’s focus from the raga (melody) itself to the images produced but the words rather than the. Thus the emphasis on ‘pure listening’ was followed throughout the study, to get the best impact of the raga on the individual.
The specific effect of each raga is universal. Dr. Sankaran sang various ragas to people from different countries and found that each raga elicited a similar response despite differences in nationality, culture, or familiarity with the music. Each raga seems to have a specific innate pattern and can help heal those with that specific pattern.
The beauty of the application of ragas for healing is that not just homeopaths but a healer of any affiliation, or even any individual can use the ragas for healing their patients or themselves. This includes even those who do not know music and homeopathy. As long as they can match the energy pattern/state of a person with the energy pattern of the raga, they can use raga as a healing tool. The Raga Therapy app does just that.
So, we are here with the link to Raga App.
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We would love it if you could use it and make keen observations as below:
1. How is the feel and look of the Application? What is your experience with the Application?
2. Write your experience about the impact of raga on you. How much it was useful.
3. About the ease of usage of the Application.
4. Are the instructions clear while you are using the Application?
5. Kindly add your comments/ suggestions if any about the Application.
P.S: Kindly write your valuable feedback to hello@rajansankaran.com
Revert back to us in case of any doubts or concerns regarding the installation of the Application.
