Search - Patrick Bernard :: Bhakti Yoga Mantra

The Art of the Holy Names. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John, 4th Gospel, ch.1, 1). Among the many forms in which the human soul has tried to express its innermost perceptions and its yearnings to unite with the Supreme Source of all energies, the Holy Names are probably the most universal. There is a special energy in the Transcendental Sound Vibrations that transcends and unites. This is evident in the sacred bhakti mantras of the Vedic tradition. The ancient bhakti-yogis did not experience that silence was the final word on the search for the Absolute Truth. For them, sound and music emanate from the deeper structures of the eternal self and their songs direct us to the soul and further into the infinite. Through their help, we can awaken all dimensions of the soul and feel a deeper unity with Godhead. Spiritual sound vibrations are a powerful tool in awakening spiritual consciousness. Thus, the goal of this album is to generate a spiritual emotional reaction upon the listeners. Bhakti Yoga Mantra will find its accomplishment in its ability to remove the listener from his or her ordinary mode of perception to a higher degree of spiritual experience. If there is radiance in the heart, there will be radiance in the music and radiance in the heart of the listeners. There is a transmission of a blissful state of being. The ever increasing ocean of bliss that one can enjoy by listening to the Holy Names Govinda, Radha-Madhava, Gopala or Krishna, is very great in comparison with the joy that one can experience by realizing the Undifferentiated Brahman of the Jnanis-yogis or even merging into it. This is because the Nama, the Name, and the Nami, the named, are One and the same. Traditionally, bhakti mantras are not ordinary formulas composed of material alphabets. They are special formulas consisting of the Names of the Lord in which special power is infused. The bhakti mantras of this recording were first brought to the west by Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who introduced the mission of Krishna Consciousness outside India. Out of his causeless mercy, he generously gave me initiation in the Holy Names in 1975. I offer my humble respects unto him. He is Krishna s beloved associate and he came down to this plane from the spiritual world. He has distributed the sweet nectar of the Holy Names all over the world, and therefore he is the personification of divine compassion.