Here Gurudeva gives the esoterics of singing to the Gods. He explains that the Gods live within their microcosm that can be accessed though supplication and bhajana. However, it is very important that the singer knows well the English meaning of the words in the chant to effectively and sincerely communicate with these inner worlds. His consciousness must actually reside within the tones of the words and their meaning to effectively sing to the Gods.

Unedited Transcript:

The chanting sounds beautiful. It inspires me to talk a little bit about singing to God. The Hindus sing to God, to the Gods, to the multitude of devas within their temples and home shrine rooms, and who gather around a group of Hindus when they gather together or most anywhere. Because each Hindu has his guardian devas around him, which come to him, locate him, attach themselves to him at his Namakarana Samskara, shortly after birth--his name giving ceremony, or at sometime during his life where he enters the great tribe known as the Hindu religion. And of course, when two or more Hindus gather, then there are several, or sometimes ten or more depending on the personal sadhana that the Hindu has done in his life or devas that have attached themselves to him and his family in many past lives.

And they all gather around and a conclave has formed. Therefore singing to God is singing also to one's immediate astral family of guardian devas that travel with each Hindu where ever he is. Of course when singing does commence at a satsang in a Hindu group of devotees, these devas call others and others come, and they all sing together on the inner planes. And that singing calls others, until a multitude of beings in the Second World strike up the same chorus as beings sung by everyone in the First World. And we must realize this when we come together and sing to God, sing to the Gods. The Gods hear their name being called in song. The Gods understand what is being said in the Sanskrit language.

It is very necessary for each one who is singing to the God, to deeply understand what he is saying--the meaning, the tones of the voice, the thought behind the meaning, the deep feeling behind the thought gives power to the voice and takes that meaning, thought and feeling and sound, right out of this macrocosm into the microcosm, to a greater macrocosm where the Gods live. Therefore high tones are best suited to piercing through the microcosm into the great macrocosm of the inner worlds. But also concentration of mind of knowing the meaning of most chants, a pleading or invoking certain benefits asking the Gods for something for yourself or praising the Gods in thanksgiving for all of the good that they have done for you throughout your life, or during an immediate time span.

And this must be felt. A true thanks must be given or a true asking must be asked with the mind and emotions and thought as the Sanskrit words are pronounced in song. So what is the God to think if he sees the devotee chanting something to him, pleading to him through the tones of his voice, but he is thinking something totally different. Or he's not even thinking at all. He's just mouthing words. Obviously the God is going to say that this person is very insincere. He's saying things that he doesn't really mean, as he looks through the microcosm into this macrocosm and he sees a group of people sitting and chanting.

Therefore, one baths before he comes to a satsang. One prepares his mind, his emotions, knowing that he is on stage before the greatest intelligent beings of this universe, who he is invoking, and of course who he knows that are going to come because of the invocation. They're going to be called because that is what his spiritual helpers on the astral planes are for--to help, to work with him there to open the Third World. All three worlds work together when a group of Hindus get together, for the astral people who work with him also invoke the higher Second World. And those beings there who work with this individual also invoke the Third World. And then this personal deity is then reached and the blessings come.

So it's very important that we're sincere when we chant. We would not want to be seen as being insincere--as saying one thing and thinking at the same time about another. Or saying and thinking one thing and then feeling another, without having the feeling behind it--presenting one's self to the Gods through song, or just appearing in front of them in the temple. We want them and they have to see you in your most sincere state of affairs. If you're unhappy and you come to the temple, they must see your unhappiness. It must not be clouded. Then they can help. Because they're going to see you anyway the way you are. Looking out of the microcosm into our macrocosm of the First World, they will see you as you are. And that's very important, that they see you're as sincere, whether you're happy, whether you're unhappy, whether you are sad. But we would not want them to see you saying one thing and thinking another as you are invoking them. That has to be very sincere.

Therefore, I'm speaking to those who do not, or are not too familiar with the Sanskrit language. It's very necessary to make a special effort to understand in English, or the language you are familiar with what you are actually saying in Sanskrit. Ganesha Saranam. "I invoke the great darshan and take refuge in the darshan of Ganesha. I take refuge in Ganesha." You must actually take refuge in Ganesha if you're saying that. But of course you could be saying "Ganesha Saranam, Saranam Ganesha" and singing it beautifully and not thinking or feeling anything except knowing that you were on key. And that would appear to be insincere. In the similar way somebody comes to you and just says things. And you know he doesn't mean it. You know he's not even thinking about what he is saying. Well, that's because you're not deeply familiar with the meaning of the words. So therefore, you have to remember the English translation. It's very necessary to impress deep within the subconscious mind the English translation. So immediately when you're saying Ganesha Saranam, you're dropping into the mood of taking refuge in the great darshan of Ganesha's love and compassion for all mankind.

And that's very important. That makes your chanting and singing for the Gods very, very beneficial. Beneficial for all mankind. For a group chanting, singing to the Gods regularly, day after day after day, gives the devas great power in their lower astral world to reach out and help all Hindus around the world or in the immediate vicinity. Within a hundred mile radius, inner plane helpers of Hindus that were not perhaps religious Hindus, would come to the satsang on the astral plane and be renewed themselves. Inner plane helpers must also be renewed and inspired. I imagine they would get very bored helping and protecting an unreligious Hindu. But that's what they have to do. That's their assigned duty.

Now that unreligious Hindu might, when he dies, spend a life or two on the astral plane helping unreligious Hindus as their spiritual protectors and guardian deva. At satsang conducted regularly at the same time, can call all of these thousands and thousands of guardian devas together in one group, and renew and inspire them, and they go back to their first world Hindu that they are bound to guard and protect, renewed and uplifted, and uplifted. And then he gets the desire within himself. He's uplifted out of the fog and morass of confusion of the mind, to pay closer attention to his religion. He has a desire to go to the temple. He gets renewed, and on and on and on. Just because a group of devotees got together and sang to God, felt what they were singing, knew the meaning of what they were saying, the implications of what they were invoking, or the praise that they were giving. And so sincerely and so deeply, that they penetrated into the microcosm, they're heard in the microcosm, thought feeling, knowledge and tone, penetrates into the microcosm, because it's from the microcosm that it came from.

First the tone, then the thought, then the feeling. And then man says, "Uh," looks at the world and says, "Uh," and makes words. Two "uhs" meaning one thing, three "uhs" mean another, and finally we have "uh-huh" and "uh-uh." He can live a life saying "uh- huh" and "uh-uh." So we want to take that all in. Take in the tone. Take in the thought. Take in the feeling. Take in the knowledge. Take in the tone, back to the source, right within the microcosm-- where you were living, twelve months before your physical birth. You were in the microcosm. Slowly you were brought out into this macrocosm. So it's not anything that you're unaccustomed to doing, and you can do it night after night after night as you sing to the Gods. And you must know that there are people listening. People just like you on the lower astral plane, and listening. People just like you on the higher astral plane that are listening. People unlike you, in the stratum of the higher astral or Second World are listening. And they are all chanting simultaneously. And if you had an inner ear to hear, you could stop chanting and you'd hear them continuing chanting. That has been done and it has been also heard. Thousands and thousands of people. And the more regular the chanting occurs and the deeper it penetrates into the higher worlds. Even the Third World people will chant along. Even Ganesha will start dancing, just because you penetrated with voice, feeling, thought, and most importantly knowledge, knowledge into the microcosm. And in your mind's eye you'll look through and see into its macrocosm.

There they all are, in a world bigger than this world, chanting, singing right along with you. And still others in the astral plane, the astral plane is in this macrocosm. It's right in this macrocosm. It penetrates the ether of this macrocosm. Even the astral plane of this macrocosm, people are chanting. So, you have your astral plane, your higher astral plane, your lower astral plane within this macrocosm and your Second World and Third World within the microcosm. I don't think I made that clear earlier.

So think about that. And as you chant, know what you are saying, very importantly. Especially if you don't know Sanskrit. Don't just say words. Know what you are saying, and know that you are saying it to somebody. If you are chanting to Ganesha, know your tune. If you are chanting to Muruga, you're invoking Muruga, expecting Lord Muruga to hear. You are pleading that he will hear and listen.