Jonathan Goldman on Sacred Sound

Ray: Is sound a means to touch God?

Jonathan: (Laughs.)

Parenthetical: Jonathan laughs. And continues laughing!

Yes, Ray, I believe it is. In fact, from my perspective, it is the most powerful and effective means of touching God.

Whether one receives the sound and is able to touch God, or one creates the sound and touches God—whether the experience is active or passive—we have this common understanding that such a connection can happen from all the traditions on the planet.

Sound is the basic creational force of the universe. One face of that creational force might be called God.

Ray: As you say, many of the world’s spiritual and cultural traditions employ sound. Which traditions have most impacted modern-day sound healing?

Jonathan: One of the very important traditions is the Hindu culture with the understanding of the power and transformative ability of sound. The Hindu tradition famously says “Nada Brahma”—the world is sound. So the Hindus were one of the world’s peoples who always understood what quantum physicists now are saying: Everything is sound. Everything is vibration.

The Hindu understanding of mantras also is highly advanced. Various mantras can be used to invoke different deities and to resonate different organs and different parts of ourselves.

The Tibetan tradition is equally important and powerful. Like the Hindu tradition, it also deals with the chakras and sound. The two systems are different, but they resonate together very well.

In fact, almost every indigenous tradition works with sound to heal and transform, from Australian didgeridoo to Native American rhythms to South American, Pueblo, and African uses of sound. The intended transformation can be anything from growing crops to invoking and bringing in divine entities to allowing spirit and soul to travel to divine places.

*Learn about Jonathan Goldman and his sound-healing workshops, recordings, and tools at www.HealingSounds.com, and read more of my work at Hemachandra.com. I did this interview for New Age Retailer magazine.