By Ramesh Kallidai
“Vedic chanting is a way of meditating and focussing the mind,” claims Chris Preist, Assistant Director of Vedavalli Foundation UK. “I find that the act of chanting gives me a sensation of contact with the divine.”
Vedavalli was founded by a Desikachar, a yoga teacher based in Chennai, son of the famous yoga exponent, TKV Krishnamacharya. Desikachar, who is from the Sri Vaishnava tradition, believes that yoga integrates body, voice, mind and emotions in the quest for unity with the source from which sound originates.
Vedavalli’s students in the West are taught through a method that respects differences in culture, religion and personal backgrounds. The organisation supports teachers who have worked with a Vedic chant teacher for at least three years before training as a Vedavalli chant teacher. Registered Vedavalli chant teachers offer personal tuition, classes, seminars and workshops for all those interested
“Although Desikachar comes from a traditional orthodox Hindu family, he is keen for people to get in touch with their spirituality in their own way,” explained Preist. “His father taught him the chanting of the mantras found in the Black Yajurveda and the Patanjali Yoga Sutras. Desikachar has continued this tradition and taught many people in the west.”
I was surprised that they actually practised chanting of the Yoga Sutras. Unlike Vedic mantras which are chanted ritualistically, the Yoga Sutras had traditionally never been chanted.
“This was an innovation that Krishnamacharya introduced,” clarified Preist. “This is because not all practitioners of Yoga may find chanting of mantras to Vedic deities very comfortable. On the other hand, the Yoga Sutras do not glorify a Hindu Deity. People from other traditions feel at ease while chanting them. Personally, I find that when we remember the text of the Sutras, we can practice yoga more effectively.”
Vedavalli UK has a Yoga Centre in Bristol where all the main teachers of Vedic chanting meet regularly.
“We also have a network of classes conducted in homes across the UK,” elaborated Preist.
Preist learnt the chanting of Vedic mantras during a trip to India in 1989. His friend Paul Harvey, who has been a student of Desikachar since 1970, had encouraged him to meet Desikachar in India.
“While in India I had one-to-one training on Vedic chanting,” remembered Preist.
“And er… are you a vegetarian?” I asked him, letting my curiosity wander around without any restrictions.
“Yes I am a vegetarian since I find it is conducive to the practice of yoga,” he explained. “But we do not prescribe any rules to our teachers and students. Almost 90% of our teachers have voluntarily turned vegetarians.”
“Do the teachers also abstain from alcohol?” I probed, as my curiosity did a somersault and went into a frenzy.
“No. I do have a drink from time to time,” he admitted.
I tried to conjure up a picture of a room full of Vedic chanters with pints of beer piled up in front of their closed eyes, and almost fell off my chair.
“One thing that westerners who chant Vedic mantras find difficult to do is to differentiate between the four types of ‘t’s found in the Sanskrit script,” I said. “Are you able to pronounce the four ‘t’s properly?”
“I would like to think I can,” responded Preist.
“Ah, can I hear you chant a verse please?” I said.
I had just begun to realise that placing a limit on curiosity was bad news for my good health.
He went away in a flurry and came back with a book that had a mantra for peace.
I waited with bated breath.
He started chanting the mantra in a deep resounding voice that reminded me of the orthodox south Indian priests from my village in Tamil Nadu.
And yes, he pronounced all the four different ‘t’s perfectly, without a single blemish. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but certainly it had done me no harm.
For more details visit www.vedavalli.org.uk