On the CD cover we read the names of Waduda, Prasanna & the Mystery. Waduda is the co-founder of New Earth Records who did the research, Prasanna Bishop is the musician and producer of the album, and ‘the Mystery’ must mean the healing energies of the crystals from the Casa of Don Ignacio de Loyola in Brazil, which were blessed by John of God, the healer Waduda and Bhikkhu visited a few years ago.
The quartz crystal bowls (made by Crystal Tones) were selected to convert the healing energy of the crystal lights into sounds: a different crystal for each of the seven chakras, including an eight bowl, the Laughing Buddha bowl, an octave higher than the root chakra.
It might be strange that two people sign this review, but this is how it happened: I asked Daya to write the review (she is my neighbour) but I also started ‘listening’ to the CD. The next time we met, she laughed and said: “Impossible to write this review, I always fall asleep!” to which I replied, “I also haven’t heard it yet because I fall asleep!” Reason why I thought I had to write the review in the end, under the condition that I could stay awake…. Despite the Greek afternoon heat and the silence at siesta time, usually our minds wander about and keep us awake, but this CD tricked us badly.
After a few days we finally managed to hear what was going on and compare notes. For each chakra there is one bowl. This means that for 7 minutes you hear one tone, and all its overtones, from this one bowl. You will easily know when the track for the next chakra starts because the pitch goes up. If you are expecting a musical experience like that of a piece by Chaitanya Deuter or even our old Chakra Sounds, you will be disappointed. It is one tone and its overtones. That’s all. Literally: monotone! Only the last piece, where eight bowls are played together, in a live session by eight people, you will have more of a musical experience. But this is not the aim of this CD. (In the accompanying booklet of various suggestions to participate in the meditation are listed. We did it the lazy way: just listening.)
Once we let go of all expectations and accept what is given we start to feel the vibrations of the tones move from the ears, the head, into the torso and limbs. It might well depend on the quality of your headphones, or the speakers, if you are able to catch all subtleties.
Sometimes you feel on edge because you are afraid that the friction of the mallet against the outer rim will finally create that dreadful sound you experience when you play a singing bowl for the first time. But it never comes! Yet being on edge might indeed help you stay awake, absorb the vibrations and let them resonate within the cells in your body.
We would have preferred if the musician playing the bowls were a percussionist, whose mallet hits are trained to be perfect and clean, i.e. with no bounce, and that some of the rustling and clicks were edited out (another moment to help us stay awake).
Punya will keep playing – and enjoying – Crystal Chakra Healing during her siesta time (and remain awake, but refreshed when back at work), but Daya is longing to hearing the singing bowls live (the real thing!), preferably played just a few inches above her chakras…