Indian music is essentially vertical in nature, meaning that it is internal and reflective of a drawing inward. Like the Eastern culture and religion, it is introverted. Eastern religions emphasize the importance of introspection and self-discovery, encouraging individuals to explore the inner reality and mystery of their being. Eastern music facilitates this process.

The power and beauty of this vertical music lie in melody, which is the relationship of successive notes. Melody is a means of connecting the human with the Divine. It operates through the psychic levels of an intermediate world that is difficult to define, as it transcends the boundaries of everyday existence and consciousness. It is a world of the unconscious, of dreams and deep moods, images and sounds, of the inner senses—those mystical dimensions of the human psyche that are either overdeveloped or underdeveloped in most of us.  

Indian music, and all contemplative music, strives to balance these dimensions as it u...

There are three dimensions of music worth discovering, and although the three are related, we may value one above the other. In our Yogic Mystery School, we are discovering all three of them at this time, even though we emphasize one during our current process. These three dimensions are aesthetic, therapeutic, and mystical, and each offers specific benefits.

In our process, the method is primarily directed toward the aesthetic, because, in order to create beauty with our voices, we've got to learn theoretical and technical components that have been simplified into three parts: chromatic calibration, developing ragas, and rhythm that involves timing.

We are three groups working as one whole. On the one hand, some are tone-deaf and have no sense of music theory or technique, while on the other, there are skilled musicians who are well-trained technically and theoretically. In between are the developing musicians who have various levels of theory and technique, some more than others. All t...