Raj Academy New Horizon for the Future

The Mission of Raj Academy is to revive and teach the sacred art and science of singing and playing Sikh rág music on the original string instruments. This discipline, known as “Gurmat Sangeet” and “Nád Yoga,” is an essential but widely ignored and forgotten part of the spiritual heritage we have been given as mankind. By spreading this timeless wisdom, we aspire to heal and awaken the highest potential in the human being in order to live a happy, healthy, prosperous, and fulfilling life, to mani-fest a bountiful future for our children, and to merge our conscious-ness in the undying essence of truth and love.

We are reaching our goal by focusing on training teachers all over the world in workshops, academic education, web school, and in our Nád Yoga teacher training. The legacy we want to leave behind is a living sacred science carried by awakened teachers, yogis, healers, and leaders for the sake of the best possible future.

About us

Sing and listen, keep passion for God in your mind. Then suffering and sorrow leave, and you go home with ease and peace.

(Jap, Guru Nanak)

Music is the most universal language on our planet. Yet, today it is almost exclusively used for mere entertainment. Some more specific applications can be experienced in shops or pubs, where people are prompted to buy or drink, respectively, or in elevators, airplanes, and waiting rooms to calm down tension and impatience. However, there is an almost forgotten art and science of singing, playing, and listening to music for a much wider range and higher purpose of applications.

The ancient Indian rág system, consisting of a variety of designed scales with affiliated rules, is an amazingly powerful technology to heal and elevate body and mind and strengthen the spirit in very specific manners. Each rág refers to an archetypal life situation for which it evokes the characteristic mood in order to understand and master the situation. The word rág means mood.

A selection of 60 such rágs is contained in the sacred scripture Siri Guru Granth Sahib, consisting of poems composed by 40 enlight-ened masters, six of the ten Sikh Gurus among them. These rágs are prescribed for the recitation of the poems in order to bring reader and listener to a true experience of the message beyond intellectual understanding. The scripture was compiled in 1604 by Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of the Sikh lineage, who elaborated the rág system applied therein.

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University StudyRaj Academy offers in collaboration with Thames Valley University, London College of Music, and several highly respected performers and teachers the first academic study in the U.K. with a nationally recognised qualification in Sikh and traditional Indian music and Nád Yoga. We train students in vocals and on a variety of traditional instruments, as well as in composing and musicology on a high academic level. The available academic qualifications are 8 Graded Exams (also available via Web School), BMus (Hons), MMus, and PhD in Sikh and traditional Indian music, and MA in Nád Yoga.

Web SchoolIn 2005, we launched our very successful Web School, which enables students worldwide to attend interactive courses through internet. Every student has a password which provides access to a variety of resources according to his or her level of studies, including video tutoring, target based assignments with one to one feedback by online tutors, and interaction with fellow students in a forum.

This facility is unique in that it provides a complete education from the basics to mastery. Using innovative instruction methods com-bined with state of the art technology we reach out to people’s homes all over the planet.

Raj Academy of Asian Music, with currently over 850 students, is the biggest school in the world for Gurmat Sangeet and Nád Yoga. We are dedicated to educating and promoting the heritage of sing-ing and playing sacred music for elevation, holistic healing, and spiritual growth worldwide.

Raj Academy is reaching out through

• Workshops• University Study• Web School• Nád Yoga Teacher Training

WorkshopsThe head of Raj Academy, Prof. Surinder Singh, and his senior stu-dents and teachers are frequently touring worldwide to teach work-shops for absolute beginners and advanced students. The workshops are usually held over a weekend. It is very important to us that these workshops are easily affordable for everybody to participate in and to organise.

The ultimate purpose of Gurmat Sangeet, the art and science of singing and playing the sacred hymns of the Sikh Guru in the prescribed rágs, is the same as that of the ancient technology of yoga. It is to heal the body and master the mind, to discard worldly desires, to guide the student to true identity, and to find eternal bliss in the unbroken remembrance of the undying essence of truth and love. Gurmat Sangeet is a form of Nád Yoga.

The science of sound has been applied by enlightened masters throughout the ages to stimulate the natural self-healing powers of the body. Nád Yoga based on Sikh music applies the power of rág science in the context of Sikh Dharma as prescribed in the sacred scriptures to create awareness and control of our moods and emo-tions. The healing powers of the rágs as prescribed by the Sikh masters relate to all the moods of the human psyche, and are able to relieve the mind of worldly anxieties.

Yogis generally have good discipline and high sensitivity. Therefore, they benefit from Nád Yoga very efficiently and on a high level. A yogi is the perfect vessel to take in, experience, and spread this heritage. We now offer a specially designed three-year Nád Yoga Teacher Training course to educate people with a background in yoga or healing to use Nád Yoga for healing, counselling, and teaching.

Nád Yoga Teacher Training

Under Guru’s Instruction, chant the Glorious Praises of the Lord, O Yogi, and this mind of yours shall be imbued with God’s Love.

(Rág Ásá, Guru Ram Das)

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Instrument Learning Students of Raj Academy require their own instrument.

Since rág music incorporates microtones which cannot be played on instruments like piano or harmonium, the use of string instruments with the possibility of altering the tone in a continuous range is necessary. The reason for our promotion of a selected group of six instruments is that they have been created, promoted, and used by the Sikh Gurus, the masters of Gurmat Sangeet. Rabab was de-signed by Guru Nanak, Saranda and Jori by Guru Arjan, and Dilruba and Taus by Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Hargobind promoted the use of the already existing Sarangi.

Our experienced teachers will help you to quickly learn the basics, provide tutoring in different instrumental techniques and prepare you for solo or group performances. Whether you are an absolute beginner or you already have some musical knowledge, you will be supported according to your personal stage of development, and you will become a skilled musician on your chosen instrument.

We also offer instruments for sale. All our instruments are manu-factured in India according to our specifications in original design and meet a professional quality standard. We offer all of the six aforementioned instruments used by the Sikh Gurus. Each of them comes in a solid fibreglass case, suitable for travelling. Our prices are adapted to your part of the world.

Moreover, we can teach you on any other traditional Indian instru-ment of your choice.

Play that instrument, Yogi, which vibrates the unstruck sound current, and remain lovingly absorbed in the Lord.

(Rág Rámkali, Guru Amar Das)

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Friend, meditate and sing forever the song of God’s Name in joy, then suffering and sorrow shall never cling to you.

(Rág Rámkali, Guru Amar Das)

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In order to learn rág music efficiently and experience its full effects, it is important to practice singing and playing at the same time. Vocals and instrument support each other and only the combined practice of both yields the desired results. But whether your person-al goal is focused more on singing or more on instrument playing, on teaching, performing, or healing, we will support you fully on your path.

Vocal Learning Today, singing is already frequently used for therapeutic purposes. The benefits of this universal form of expression are commonly recognised. Singing can open subcon-scious blocks and reconnect the student with rejected and closed up emotions and memories. By freeing them, a healing process is triggered off, which is on the level of the cause rather than the symptom.

The human body consists of almost 70% of water, which is a very good receptor and transmitter of vibrations. Chanting sacred mantras and hymns can re-program the level of vibration of cells and create a profound healing response. In all sacred scriptures and traditions, this is considered to be an essential part of spiritual discipline.

Our experienced teachers will help you improve your voice, rea-lise your singing potential, and guide you to practicing effectively. Whether you are an absolute beginner or you have previous experi-ence, you will be supported according to your personal stage of development, and you will be able to sing different styles encom-passed in Gurmat Sangeet such as Folk, Dhakhani (South Indian style), Dhrupad, Khyal, etc.

Pedagogy

Teacher

Head and Founder of Raj AcademyProf. Surinder Singh is a Master of Nád Yoga. He spent his early years studying classical Indian and Sikh rág music in the traditional manner with respected masters like the late Pandit Kharayti Lal Tahim, as well as in academic studies at several universities. He gra-duated in vocal, musicology, history, and performing with BA, MA, M.Phil and professorship from Thames Valley University, London.

More importantly, he has gained a profound understanding of the practical applications of rág music on a level of elevation and heal-ing, and he is dedicating his life to inspiring his students to master their mind, follow their soul, and fulfil their destiny using the tech-nologies of Gurmat Sangeet and Nád Yoga. As a result of his efforts more and more young people are keenly involved in learning to perform Sikh rág music using traditional string instruments.

To have a vehicle for his vision, Prof. Surinder Singh founded Raj Academy of Asian Music in 1994, which has grown an international community of dedicated teachers, musicians and yogis. “Professor Ji”, as he is called respectfully by his students, leads workshops, teaches at universities, practices and performs with his senior students and teachers, and gives lectures and talks on the subjects of Sikh music and Nád Yoga on TV and radio all over the world. He compiled a comprehensive 8 CD box set with a 200 page booklet including 59 compositions in 59 different rágs from Siri Guru Granth Sahib, an outstanding masterpiece for educational, therapeutic and healing purposes.

Prof. Surinder Singh takes a strong stand on the correct practice of Gurmat Sangeet. Due to modern influences in Sikh music today, most rágis ignore the prescriptions of the rágs on the hymns, so that Kirtan is no longer a spiritual discipline, but a form of entertainment. “A spiritual discipline given by masters cannot yield its desired effects if the rules are changed because of insufficient educa-tion or commercial considerations.” (Prof. Surinder Singh)

Remembering God in loving connection, the Vedas were com-posed.

(Rág Gauri Sukhmani, Guru Arjan)

Composing and MusicologyA further essential part of the education in Gurmat Sangeet and Nád Yoga is composing. The rág music system, developed by the Sikh Gurus, does not provide compositions, but a framework of scales and rules in order to encourage the student to create their own melodies to sing and play. This shows the importance of creativity in the process of growth and healing within dharma. We teach you how to compose and give you profound understand-ing of the terminology of rágs and compositions.

We will also introduce you to musicology, the science of psycho-logical effects of sound on the mind. How does the rág change the mood? What happens in nerves, glands, and brain? What is it about a melody that touches our hearts? How can we connect evidence and understanding, and how can we use it for the best purpose? You will be encouraged to research and critically evaluate the mys-teries of sacred music in detail.

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The musical instruments of truth and content-ment vibrate, and the unstruck melody of the sound current resounds.Hearing this, all my fears have been dis-pelled, O Nanak, God is the Primal Being, the Creator Lord.

(Rág Suhee, Guru Arjan)

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Many diseases are caused by insufficient processing of challeng-ing or traumatic experiences. The inability of truthful and righteous action results in a storage of unexpressed emotions and incomplete communication in the subconsciousness and in the physical body. This can later on yield symptoms like depression, eating disorders, migraine, stomach trouble, back problems, etc.

Here is where the ancient technology of yoga unfolds its effects. Postures in combination with self-awareness can reach and dissolve these symptoms by triggering flows of energy in the body. Mantra chanting and meditation, if applied regularly, are the most safe and sound methods of approaching the subconsciousness in order to clean and heal it.

Like any form of yoga, Gurmat Sangeet, the Sikh way of Nád Yoga, uses techniques which reach beyond verbal communication and intellectual processing, but which work on the level of experience and evidence. The singing and playing of sacred hymns in pre-scribed rágs, as specified by the ancient masters, is a highly efficient and most beautiful manner to express unexpressed emotions and incomplete communications in order to heal mind and body and strengthen the spirit.

Therefore, as a student of Raj Academy, you will also learn the psychology, diagnostics, and therapeutic techniques of Nád Yoga. You will explore the effects of sound, tone, and rhythm on the hu-man mind and body, understand how to diagnose a problem of your student or client, and how to prescribe a rág in order to heal.

Healing

GlossaryA rág is a framework comprising a specifically designed scale of notes with affiliated rules. Any song composed according to this framework will evoke a mood in listener and performer which is characteristic for this rág. This effect can be used very efficiently for healing purposes. The word “rág” translates as “mood”.

Yoga is an ancient technology consisting of postures, breathing and meditation tech-niques, and a specific way of life, which culminates in a state commonly referred to as enlightenment, realisation, awakening, liberation. The yogi has reached a permanent experience of Oneness of Self, God and Creation. Today, yoga is mainly practiced because of the manifold beneficial side-effects in terms of holistic health. The word “yoga” trans-lates as “union”.

The goal of yoga can be reached in countless ways. One of them is Nád Yoga, the yoga of sound. The ancient scriptures say that the faculty of listening is the most comprehensive and powerful of all five senses. In the cycle of birth and death, it is the first one to appear and the last one to disappear. Nád Yoga exclusively uses sound, tone, rhythm, singing and listening in order to awaken the consciousness. The archetype of the Nád Yogi is Guru Nanak, a spiritual rebel, poet and leader who found full enlightenment by singing the praises of the Creator, whom he found to permeate the whole Creation (“Ik Ong Kaar”).

Gurmat Sangeet is the sacred art and science of singing and playing the hymns of the holy scripture Siri Guru Granth Sahib in the prescribed rágs using original instruments, created by the Sikh Gurus. It is of particular interest, that, after the British occupying forces brought the harmonium to India, today almost all rágis play this instrument which does not allow the use of microtones, necessary for the correct performance of Sikh rág music. These days, many rágis do not play the hymns in the prescribed rágs, giving way to commercial and populist considerations.

Siri Guru Granth Sahib is the holy scripture of Sikh Dharma. It consists of shabads (hymns) composed by 40 enlightened masters, six of the ten Sikh Gurus among them. With the exception of the first prayer “Jap” (also known as “Jap Ji”), the titles of all hymns give the rág in which the hymn is to be sung. The scripture was compiled in 1604 by Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of the Sikh lineage, who elaborated the rág system applied therein.

The way of righteous living outlined by the Gurus of the Sikh lineage is called Sikh Dharma. Reading the story of Guru Nanak, it becomes evident, that he did not want to found a new religion, but to awaken people lost in superstition, rituals, and hypocrisy, and lead them to true spirituality. The main pillars of Sikh Dharma are Seva (selfless service), Simran (unbroken remembrance of God and Soul), Miri Piri (spiritual and temporal life at the same time), and Nád Yoga, preferably practiced in the very early morning, Amrit Vela, the time of nectar.

Rág

Yoga

Nád Yoga

Gurmat Sangeet

Siri Guru Granth Sahib

Sikh Dharma

info@rajacademy.comwww.rajacademy.com