Ancient Eastern chants that embody the powerful healing Reiki symbols.

Notes on REIKI CHANTS

In the Beginning

If you examine the basic tenets of the various spiritual paths on this planet, you will find a commonality in their understanding that the first basic creative force was sound. In the New Testament it is written: “In the Beginning was the Word!” The Old Testament tells us: “And the Lord said: ‘Let there be Light!’”—the act of sound creating light. In the Hopi traditions, the Spider Woman sings the song of creation over the inanimate forms on this planet, bringing life to them. From the Vedic tradition it is written: “In the Beginning was Brahman, with whom was the Word and the Word was Brahman”. The idea of sound as the principle creative energy is almost universal. Sound creates form.

What if specific forms, such as the Reiki Symbols were, like other forms, actually the manifestation of specific sounds? What if there were specific sounds that were not only encoded with the Reiki Symbols, but also created them as wel?. This is the concept and the purpose behind “REIKI CHANTS”.

Creation of Reiki Chants

The idea of “REIKI CHANTS” first came to me at the Sound and Reiki Conference held in Sedona, Arizona in early March of 2005. It was my great pleasure to present a number of different programs: lectures, workshops—even a trance dance. My entire family and I had a wonderful time at this Conference. It was a sheer delight for all of us.

One of my presentations focused on the use of the vowel sounds to resonate our chakras—the etheric centers of the body initially found in the Hindu and Buddhist tradition. The vowel sounds are considered sacred in many different traditions. Knowledge of the relationship between these sounds and the chakras is said to date back to ancient Egypt. This is a very powerful exercise that truly helps give people the experience of sound as a transformational energy and one I like to share at any opportunity possible.

Sometimes after this presentation, Nita Mocanu, a renowned Reiki master from France shared the Reiki Chants—a system of vowel oriented chants from Kotodama, an ancient oriental system of sound healing. I was fascinated. While we did not have the same perspective on sound—his sounds were short, rapid vowel oriented sounds—I work with long extended vowels sounds. Nevertheless, I immediately understood the power of the sounds he shared. I wondered, what if someone were to create a recording of these sounds in the manner in which I worked? What if I were to create “Reiki Chants” as beautiful extended choral pieces which were both sonically pleasing and energetically applicable?

Thus began the long and arduous journey to the creation and completion of this recording. In no small way, I owe much to the support of Laurelle Gaia, who along with her husband Michael Baird, sponsored the Sound and Reiki Conference. Laurelle assisted me with thoughts, ideas and feedback on how best to manifest this album. She also created the artwork and graphics for this recording, as well as adding her own voice to the “REIKI CHANTS”.

Thanks also to the other extraordinary beings who work with the energy of Light & Love through Sound. Some were Reiki Masters. Some weren’t. All were of support to this project and I am grateful.

Reiki

Reiki is an ancient system of healing. The name translates as Energy of Light. It utilizes a source known as “chi” or “ki” in the oriental traditions. This energy is also known as prana in the Vedic traditions, and is called “orgone” here in the West. Reiki is the guided movement of this life energy

Reiki was brought into modern times through Mikao Usui, a teacher in Kyoto Japan, in the mid 1800’s. Usui was attempting to find the system of healing that both the Buddha and Jesus used. His searched for this system took many years and brought him to many countries, including the United States, India and Tibet, and to the study of many different religions and philosophies.

His quest for this healing system ultimately brought him the Mount Koriyama in Japan, where he meditated for 21 days. On his last day, he experienced a transcendental awakening in which he was shown the different symbols associated with Reiiki, as well as understanding how to activate them and use them for healing. It is also believed that Usui received and employed the Kotodama Reiki Chants in his healing.

Since that time, Reiki has begun to be taught throughout the world. Initially, there were very few Reiki masters who taught this healing practice. Most Reiki practitioners were in the orient—this was particularly true until after World War 2, when Reiki began to emerge in many different countries and traditions.

In the last 30 years, there has been a virtual blossoming of Reiki as a healing path. When I first began to study Reiki, there were at best a handful of teaching Masters. Now, the number of people transmitting and practicing Reiki energy has become enormous with many different variations of Reiki being taught.

Regardless of the particular aspect of Reiki that is being utilized, the power of this extraordinary healing system to balance and attune our life energy and bring us to states of harmony and balance cannot be overemphasized.

Sound

As previously stated it is my belief that sound is the basic creative principle. The ancient mystics are in agreement with our modern physicists—that everything is in a state of vibration, and thus producing sound. As the ancient Hindus have told us, “Nada Brahman”—the world is sound!

Sound travels as a waveform, which just like waves of the ocean, go up and down. These waves of sound are measured in cycles per second (scientifically called Hertz and abbreviated as Hz.). This measurement is called the frequency of a sound. Slow moving waves make bass sounds. Fast moving waves make treble sounds. We hear from around 16 Hz. to around 16,000 Hz. However, just because we can’t hear a sound doesn’t mean it is not there. Dolphins can project and receive frequencies upwards of 180,000 cycles per second. That’s more than 10 times beyond our limit of hearing sound. Thus, we’d like you to contemplate the idea which stems from the phrase “In the Beginning was the Word”—that everything and anything is sound. From the electrons moving around the nucleus of an atom, to planets in distant galaxies moving around stars, everything is in a state of motion. And if it is in motion, it is (conceptually at least) putting out a vibration that may be perceived of as being sound, whether audible or inaudible.

To many of the ancient mystics, sound was not only the basic creative energy—it was also the essence of form. Thus sound created form. The work of many scientists such as Dr. Hans Jenny’s “Cymatics” indeed displays this truth. . Dr. Jenny took many different materials—from pastes and plastics to liquids—put them on a steel plate and then vibrated the plate with sound. He found that these lifeless blobs of plastics or mounds of pastes would take on the most harmonious and lifelike forms when vibrated by sound. Within the hundreds of photographs taken by Dr. Jenny are pictures that look incredibly organic, some like human organs and other like microscopic life. In reality, these are inorganic substances which had been shapesless moments before they were exposed to sound. .Dr. Jenny’s experiments showed that as our knowledgeable ancestors predicted, sound created form.

Work from other scientists indicate that vocally created sounds—in particular the sacred sounds of many mantras--seem to create specific shapes. The Shri Yantra, a mandala or sacred image from the Hindu and Buddhist tradition is a series of interconnecting triangles within a circle. It is said to be the image of the “Om and is displayed in many sacred images. When someone om a scientific laboratory sounded an “Om” into a device called a tonoscope., a very similar shape was created. Thus sound and image are interrelated. They may be perceived as being the same. Many believe that in fact, sound creates the image.

Thus by sounding the names of these symbols using the ancient system called Kotodama, the sacred symbols of Reiki are said to be created. As mentioned, Kotodama is an extremely ancient system of understanding the healing and transformational power of sound. Much of this understanding includes the power of the vowel sound.Through vocalizing the Kotodama sounds of the Reiki symbols, it is possible to actually sonically manifest these symbols—especially if you focus your intention on the creation of these symbols.

Intent

In my books HEALING SOUNDS, SHIFTING FREQUENCIES, and TANTRA OF SOUND (co-authored with my wife Andi) I discuss the importance of intent in the sound healing experience. A formula I present is: “Frequency + Intent = Healing”. “Intent” is the energy behind the sound (the “Frequency”) and may be a real key as to the effects of sound--particularly vocally created sound. I believe awareness of intent will help enhance the sound healing experience and frequency shifting effect. The intention we place upon the sound truly influences our experience with the sound.

Another formula from these books which I created and utilize on my recordings and all my sound healing work is “Vocalization + Visualization = Manifestation. This means that the sound created coupled with the visualization one encodes on the sound will assist the manifestation of the energy of the sound. This certainly seems to be relevant with regard to the “REIKI CHANTS”.

During the recording of these various sounds on “REIKI CHANTS”, all vocal and musical participants invoked the energies of Divine beings of sound. And while making the sounds for each specific chant, we focused our intention on that specific symbol, visualizing it and feeling the energy as we vocalized it. We focused these intentions, visualizations and feelings so that this energy could be encoded onto this recording.

The Reiki Chants

Reiki and Music share a common principle of healing: Attunment. When we choose to increase the flow of energy in our bodies, we can attune ourselves to a stronger current; when we choose to harmonize unhealthy vibrations in our body, we can attune ourselves to healthy ones.
Reiki, as a system, is based upon 5 Symbols which appeared to Mikao Usui during his deep and profound experience on Mt. Koriyama. Of these symbols, 4 of them are utilized with the actual practice of Reiki, while the 5th is most frequently used for teaching/initiation purposes. Some teach that Usui Sensei primarily utilized four Kotodama chants when he utilized Reiki. Thus “REIKI CHANTS” is composed of the sounds of the 4 symbols, designed to facilitate and enhance Reiki and other energy healing modalities, as well as creating balance and harmony in the listener.
The 4 symbols and the chants associated with them that have been utilized on “REIKI CHANTS” are:

1). “Choku Rei”, the ‘Power’ symbol which is used to strengthens the light and brings focus. This symbol increases the power and flow of Reiki whenever it is used.

2). “Sei He Ki” : the ‘Emotional Healing’ symbol which is used to brings balance, harmony and peace. It activates your divine presence as well as bringing balance to your mind and emotions, male and female energies and left and right brain.

3). “Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen”: the ‘Distant’ symbol – which is used to connect with the energy that transmits healing across space and time. Since space and time are merely constructs of the limited mind, this symbol works on all levels and dimensions, creating a bridge beyond linear time and space.

4). “Dai Ko Myo”; the ‘Master’ symbol which is used to invoke full empowerment of the Reiki energy and align as One. It is primarily used in attunements to connect the recipient to the Reiki energy and to the higher self and is also used to facilitate the Reiki healing process.

As described in the opening section, I was in the audience when the Reiki Chants were shared . When I heard them, I knew these chants would be an important addition, not only as a tool for Reiki practitioners, but also to the library of Reiki information—books, CDs and other teaching material—and that the creation of such a recording was to be among my next projects.

A challenge with creating “Reiki Chants” was simply that they were given as fast and brief mantras that were sounded in a monotone. Each chant might have lasted only a few seconds.. Such mantric forms were certainly effective, but they lacked a musicality necessary for being the focal point of a recording such as I had conceived. From my own experience I realized that in order to create a recording that featured these chants, I’d have to spend quite some time working with these sounds so that they were both effective and quite musical.

Thus began many months of working with different keynotes, melodies, instrumentation, harmonic structure and many of the other musical elements that make up the creation of a musical composition in order to create this recording.

As with most of my other recordings, I spent many times of experimentation with regard to deciding what with different sonic systems – particularly what keynotes or scales would be most effective and should be used to truly honor the energy of the “REIKI CHANTS”.

The actual melodies of the chant came to me intuitively. I like to believe that, as with my other recordings, there are highly evolved interdimensional spiritual beings who work through me in order to assist the creation of different projects. This seems to be the case with the melodies, aas well as other musical components of “REIKI CHANTS”.

It has been my purpose in this recording to create chants which express the beauty and energy of the symbols in such a way that they are both pleasing to listen to and easy to learn.

The following are the chants, the way they are written in Kotodama as well as the phonetically written way they are to be pronounced.

1). “Cho Ku Rei” is written ho ku ei and pronounced “Hoe Koo Aye”

2). “Sei He Ki” is written ei ei ki and pronounced “Aye Aye Key”

3). “Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen” is written ho a ze ho ne and pronounced “Hoe Wha Zay Hoe Nay”

4). “Dai Ko Myo” is written ai ko yo and pronounced “Eye Ko Yo”

“Eye” is pronounced as in the letter “I”. “Aye” is pronounced as in the word “say”. “Hoe” is pronounced as in the word for the garden implement or as in the word “go”. “Koo” is pronounced as in “you”. “Ko” and “Yo” are also pronounced as in the word “go”. “Wha” is pronounced as in the first part of “what”. “Zay” and “Nay” are both pronounced as in the word “say”. “Key” is pronounced as in the word “key”

Kotodama: Pronunciation: Symbol:
ho ku ei Hoe koo aye Cho Ku Rei
ei ei ki Aye aye key Sei He Ki
Ho a ze ho ne Hoe wha zay hoe nay Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen
a-i ku yo Eye ko yo Dai Ko Myo

We have already had much positive feedback with regard to “REIKI CHANTS” and how their sounds seem to vibrate and encode the very air and space with the energy of the various symbols they represent. We trust that you too will find these “REIKI CHANTS” to be both enjoyable to listen to and effective in their enhancement of your healing work.

Please let us know of any experiences you may while playing this CD.

Continued Blessings of Light & Love through Sound
Jonathan Goldman

JONATHAN GOLDMAN BIO

JONATHAN GOLDMAN is an international authority on sound healing and a pioneer in the field of harmonics. He has studied and worked with masters of sound and healing from both the scientific and the spiritual traditions and has been empowered by the Chant Master of the Dalai Lama’s Drepung Loseling Monastery to teach Tibetan Overtone Chanting. He is author of HEALING SOUNDS a classic in the field of sound healing, which as been published n over a dozen languages. Other titles include: SHIFTING FREQUENCIES, THE LOST CHORD and the recently released TANTRA OF SOUND, co-authored with his wife Andi Goldman. His highly acclaimed, groundbreaking recordings include: “HOLY HARMONY” and “ULTIMATE OM, the award winning “CHAKRADANCE”, “THE LOST CHORD, and “THE DIVINE NAME”, and the best selling “CHAKRA CHANTS”, winner of the Visionary Awards for “Best Healing-Meditation Album”. Jonathan is Founder and Director of the Sound Healers Association and President of Spirit Music in Boulder, Colorado. He travels throughout the world empowering others with the ability to create and use healing and transformational sounds.

Laurelle Gaia
Laurelle has been, a student, a teacher, practitioner and facilitator of the healing arts for more than 25 years. As a Licensed Reiki Master and Karuna Reiki® Master, I operate an active Reiki practice, with clients and students in Sedona, AZ. she facilitate Reiki training programs in Sedona, and worldwide. Her books include: Sacred Circle, Be Peace Now and The Book on Karuna Reiki. Since 1994, she has served as Director of Teacher Licensing for the ICRT, and Editor of Reiki News Magazine.

Sarah Benson
Sarah “Saruah” Benson is a master sound healer, teacher, Reiki Master and initiator into the mysteries of sacred sound. She is an embodiment of the Divine Mother and has imparted this loving energy through her voice and music for over 30 years. Saruah is the founder of the Earth Sound Light Center, and the author of WITHIN THE SOUND. An extraordinary flutist, pianist and vocalist, her recordings include the much acclaimed Flutes of Interior Time, Sound of Light, Opening, Healing and Beloved.

Andi Goldman
Andi Goldman, M.A., L.P.C., is a licensed psychotherapist, specializing in holistic counseling and sound therapy. She holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Boulder Graduate School and is Co-director of the Sound Healers Association and Director of the Healing Sounds® Seminars. She is a musician, teacher, sound healer, and the wife and partner of Jonathan Goldman.

REIKI CHANTS
Jonathan Goldman

Produced by Jonathan Goldman
Composed by Jonathan Goldman
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jonathan Goldman,
Spirit Sounds, Boulder, CO
Mastering assistance: Weave
Mastered at: Airshow Mastering
Cover Art and Design by Laurelle Gaia
Jonathan Goldman: Voice, Synthesizer,
Andi Goldman: Vocie & Harp
Laurelle Gaia: Voice
Sarah Benson: Voice

© 2006 Jonathan Goldman administered by Sound Healers Music, ASCAP
(p) 2006 Spirit Music, Inc. Administered by Spirit Music Inc. on behalf of Jonathan Goldman and Sound Healers Publishing, ASCAP—All Rights Reserved. www.healingsounds.com (800) 246-9764 email: infor@healingsounds.com

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