Life at both gross and subtle levels is movement: movement involves sound. And just as all form is sculpted in stillness, so all sound is grounded in silence. Tibetan prayer whee...

Life at both gross and subtle levels is movement: movement involves sound. And just as all form is sculpted in stillness, so all sound is grounded in silence. Tibetan prayer wheels containing texts printed on rice paper of cotton send silent supplication to the gods who themselves are manifest as vibration energies in the realms of subtle sound, and who can be invoked by the correct intonation of their harmonic bodies as chants and mantras. Shakyamuni observed that between any two moments in time, an infinite number of mind-moments occur, and these in turn arise out of the immaculate void that is our real nature. This subjective awareness of the undisturbed ground of activity is fundamental to the oriental disposition, and has influenced all aspects of its culture. Eastern classical music incorporates quarter tones and deliberate tonal spacing to allow for minute subdivision and thence silence, and its concept of harmony comprises not only the component parts of the music itself, but also the fact that tonal rhythms should be in concord with the other planetary rhythms of time and space. Thus in ancient India particular types of music were deemed to be suited to particular times of day, seasons and places, and all music had a liturgical purpose. In this way the healing power of sound, known to all cultures, was incorporated consciously and therapeutically into the structure of what we call music. Buddhist ritual instruments such as the conch and the drum should be played in such a way as to enliven rhythms in the physiology of the listener and to make full use of the stillness between each note. Similar considerations lie behind the phrasing of the Gregorian Chant of the West.