Sound of Life Force: R

Namaste, friends. Welcome back in this journey of exploring mantras through simple sounds. We have looked at the primary vowels, the ah, the e, and the oo. Next we'll look at another simple sound, the rhu, which you would have hear more clearly as the rh, yeah? The rhu, when you just reduce it to its vowel component, it's the rh.

Try that, the tongue is lightly placed below the roof of the mouth, rh. Lovely. Alright, so the vibrating nature of this sound as a short vowel is that it is the organizing principle. We're all familiar with the sounds right, rhythm, rectitude, that seem to have this initial sound rh in it. So this vowel, rhu, is the organizing principle that brings order in things.

At a physical level, it is said to be the seed of fire, and it stimulates the prana, or the life energy, within us. This in turn improves the circulatory and the nervous system of our body. A very important sound, I would say, to help us organize our lives in a meaningful way for ourselves, and live more rightly. So if you feel that there is a certain difficulty in your life about being able to organize the mind and the emotions, I'd invite you to try playing with the rh as a short vowel, and then later as a longer vowel because it doesn't bring too much of a difference. It only intensifies the experience.

So close your eyes, take a deep breath, and do the sound, rhu. Or do the sound as a short one. Don't be anxious about the length of your breath. Allow the breath to just carry the vibration all the way down to your being. So we'll do that once more.

Close your eyes, sit comfortably, take a deep breath, and do the sound, rhu. As this sound corresponds to rectifying, or organizing of the mind, I suggest that we can do it with a particular gesture, which is using the chin mudra. The chin mudra is done by joining your thumb to the index finger and keeping the other three straight. Place the joint of the two fingers in the center of your forehead where your third eye is, in between your eyebrows. And place the other three fingers lightly on your forehead, on the root of your hair, hairline.

Now take a deep breath, and do the sound, rhu. Visualize that as you do the sound rhu, it is entering into your mind's space and bringing order in that space. Take a deep breath, hold the position, and do the sound, rhu. Sometimes, if one is not familiar with this gesture, the putting of one's fingers on that point can make one feel uncomfortable. So feel free to do it where you are at ease, and yet allow yourself to explore in which way the sound can speak to you at a physical level as well.

You can repeat the same action with the sound, rh. Imagine that creation of order within your whole being. It is said that at a spiritual level, the practice of this sound, rhu, can help us to connect with the deeper laws of our own nature, and I think in a world where we are constantly distracted and pulled in all directions, recognizing the law of one's being and staying with that can add great force to our presence wherever we are. So practice the sound rhu and rh and empower yourselves.