Medicine Music
by S.B. McKee
Music is prayer. The most beautiful thing the voice can do is sing. The earliest prayers -- the Vedas, the Psalms, even the Koran -- were sung rather than recited. The greatest thing we can do is give our attention (our time) back to father time, our creator himself. The Native Americans sing all of their prayers/chants, sometimes to the accompaniment of drums.
One of the most beautiful things the hands can do is make music. Music is medicine for the soul. Whatever longings you may find in your heart, whatever thirsts, whether for sweet melodic symphony or bluegrass, or for loud dissonant rock music, whatever your tastes are, there is music for you.
Some of the best ever music was written as an offering or prayer back to God, from whom the ability and inspiration came. When such music is played it fights the sicknesses in the mind like hatred. Love is better and Divine Love is the best. Divine music is an opening to Heaven through the ear.
aham kratur aham jajna
svadhaham aham aushaudham
mantro 'ham aham evajyam
aham agnir aham hutam
aham I | kratuh ritual | yajna sacrifice | svadha oblation | aushadham healing herb | mantrah transcendental chant | eva certainly | ajyam butter | agnih fire | hutam offering
Krishna is the ritual, the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. Krishna is the butter, the fire and the offering.
patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah
patram a leaf | puspam a flower | phalam a fruit | toyam water | yah whoever | me unto Krishna | bhaktya with devotion | prayacchati offers | tat that | aham Krishna | bhakti-upahrtam offered in devotion | asnami accept | prayata-atmanah from one in pure consciousness
If one offers with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, Krishna will accept it.
yat karosi yad asnasi
yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurusva mad-arpanam
yat whatever | karosi you do | yat whatever | asnasi you eat | yat whatever | juhosi you offer | dadasi you give away | yat whatever | tapasyasi austerities | kaunteya O son of Kunti | tat that | kurusva do | mat unto Krishna | arpanam as an offering
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform -- do that as an offering to Krishna.
jai baladev, jai baladev jai baladev!
hara hara ganja! bom shivaya!
End the War on Drugs
Prayer is not asking God to do something for you, it's asking God to act through you to do His will on Earth.
If you partake of herbal medicines, please do so with respect and thanksgiving. Link to the Spiritual Roadmap for the respectful use of marijuana and prayers for Soma.
Hallowed be Thy name.
Lead us to act with maturity and compassion
and make our world as You would have it.
Day by day give us what we need to live.
And free us from our debt of guilt,
as we free others from theirs.
Teach us the goodness of Your kingdom,
for Thine is the eternal spiritual home.
Top altar Manifestations of the Supreme Lord: Mahavishnu, Krishna playing His flute, Krishna dancing on the head of Kaliya (the serpent), Lord Chaitanya, and Lord Jagannatha on the Ratha-yatra card (Krishna returning to meet the Goddess Srimati Radharani).
Sanskrit prayer to the Supreme Lord Krishna from the Brahma-samhita (text 38)
santah sadaiva hridayesu vilokayanti
yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundar, Krishna Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.
Middle altar Lord Shiva, Ganesh, Nandi, Mohini-murti (tall black figure, far left), vibudhi (holy ash), ganja (holy herb). Ganja is the spiritual energy (shakti) of Lord Shiva, so please offer ganja to Shiva before smoking. Mantras for offering ganja: Om namo Shivaya. Bom Shivaya! Bom Bolanath! Om Shivaya namaha.
Healing prayer:
sugandhim pustivardhanam
urvarukamiva bandhanan
mrtyor muksiya ma mrtat
Whose fragrance nourishes all created beings.
May I cling so closely to Him - as tightly as the cucumber clings to the creeper to which it is attached. May He liberate me from the cycle of birth and death. (Translation by Sri Karunamayi)
Ground altar Elevated spirits of this world: angels, bodhi-sattvas, gurus, kachinas and earth gods. Gayatri prayer to the upper, middle and lower worlds:
tat savitur veranyam
bhargo devasya dimihi
dhiyo yo nah prachodayat
Sanskrit prayer to the eternal guru (who manifests in our lives daily through all situations and people we meet):
gurudevo maheshvara
gurusaksat param brahma
tasmai sri gurave namah
ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha--davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam
Glory to the Sri Krsna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.
namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis
tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah
O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by chanting Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.
trnad api sunicena
taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih
One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi
O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.
ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram
patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya
O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krsna), I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet.
nayanam galad-asru-dharaya
vadanam gadgada-ruddhaya gira
pulakair nicitam vapuh kada
tava nama-grahane bhavisyati
O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs on my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?
yugayitam nimesena
caksusa pravrsayitam
sunyayitam jagat sarvam
govinda-virahena me
O Govinda! Felling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.
aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam
adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato
mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah
I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly in His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.
