Rama Rama Rama
Sounds from my Archive (#3)
Sounds from my Archive is a series in which I’ll be selecting a recording from my archive and sharing with you the tale of its coming into being…
Rama Rama Rama…
Driving somewhere deep in the Arièges mountains, in Southwestern France, I discovered this most beautiful chant….
Tuning into the Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - several episodes had already accompanied my long drive out from Provence, across the Occitanie region and on down South towards the Spanish border. The podcast, which shares speeches, talks and sessions pulled from the Ram Dass archive, has become a cherished companion to me on the road. Alone amongst nature, between cities and souls, I find great solace in the words and wisdom of Ram Dass, as so many before me have.
The root of the word Rama is ram- which means "stop, stand still, rest, rejoice, be pleased"
This particular episode features a talk Ram Dass gave in New York in 1969, as he was just back from his first trip to India — charged with wild energy. This energy has stuck with me since. “If you sing with your heart, finally, you become one with that to which you are singing.” he says. I recall joining in the chanting and thinking how incredible it was that fifty something years later, here I was receiving this message and it was passing through me. Here I was Rama Rama’ing with all these people!
If you want to check out the original talk you can tune in to the Here and Now Podcast episode here:
We are gifted with a piece of time with which through our different practices and exchanges we have the opportunity to decorate.
Sometimes the most revealing recordings are the ones that remain simple, raw, untouched — charged with wild energy. They represent a unique moment, a metaphysical screenshot in which time and matter collide to create a memory. They are also temporal and fleeting. We are gifted with a piece of time with which through our different practices and exchanges we have the opportunity to decorate.
This recording was made at home, just after the turn of this year. You can hear my four year old daughter, Pearl, singing her own background accompaniment in the bathtub down the hallway. I placed the recorder down a few inches from my body and began to sing whilst playing my acoustic guitar. I find myself coming back to this chant when the world starts to get too… well… worldly.
I recently read this post by
which shares the beautiful story of a Hindu master and his disciple. I highly recommend taking the time to contemplate it :
I hope in some way this all connects with you…
“If you can hear that message. It works on you inside…”
As Ram Dass says - “It’s a technique of getting outside of your ego by just letting the sound happen. There’s no rewards. You can’t sing pretty”.
Remember it’s just Rama Rama Rama…
Mat
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Thank you Mat.