Song list

Opening the Lotus (Purification)

Riding on the sound waves of this sacred love song we allow the lotus of our hearts to open. Calling out past the perceived boundaries of space and time we gently gather all the other parts of ourselves, bringing them safely and completely into the sacred, perfect and whole moment of now where we experience the great perfection of the present moment. As our lotus heart slowly unfolds, obstructions and impurities are loosened allowing the full power of the divine to pour through us. In the fires of divine love all that is less than loving is released, creating a sanctuary of safety and healing. Into this sacred space of our purified heart we invite the souls of animals past present and yet to be born. 

This piece contains two mantras:
The first entitled 'Opening of the Lotus', comes from the Shrimad Bhagavatam section of the Vedic scriptures, the original commentary of the Vedanta Sutra, the greatest treatise of Vedic cosmology which foretells of the coming of Buddha 2000 years in the future. This Divine Being will appear on earth out of great compassion and to stop the killing of animals for sacrifice. This mantra has great significance today because our civilization has become increasingly merciless to animals. In the past people killed animals in the name of religion and today we kill them in the name of health and science, which have become a kind of god. 

Om nindasi yajnavidhe rahaha srutijatam
Om sadaya hrdaya darsitapasughatam
Kesava dhrta buddhasartra
Jaya jaya jahadisa hare
Jaya jayadisa hare 

Translation:
O supreme Source in the body of Buddha
-the enlightened-
Out of the compassion of your heart
You have come to revoke the ritualistic portion of the Vedas
Ordaining the killing of animals.
Hail! Hari, Consciousness of the Universes. Glory to Thee!
You are in me.

The second piece, 'Sutra of the Lotus', an ancient Japanese mantra was chosen because of the beautiful sonorousness of the Japanese language. In this particular mantra the words are very short. Animals resonate with words that are sonorous and short. Also, this mantra contains the word renge which refers to the law of cause and effect. It resonates with the appearance of Lord Buddha who predicted that the killing of animals would create a reaction appearing in the form of disease, war and pestilence which we experience today.

Sutra of the Lotus (Buddhist Mantra-Japan)
Myo ho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo
Namu ho renge kyo

Translation:
Myo: that which exists but is un-manifest
Ho: that which is manifest
Nam: engagement
Renge: lotus flower as a symbol of the law of cause and effect
Kyo: action, the path of Buddha

TWO
Atonement

Vini Creator Spiritus (9th century Gregorian hymn)
Vay-nee(vini) Creator Spiritus
Mentes tuorum visita
Implea Supearma gratia
Vene tu creasti pectoera

Translation:
Come Creator Spirit
Visit the Souls of your Creatures
Fill the hearts of those 
Whom you have made
With Heavenly Grace.

All healing is available in the sacred moment of now. Atonemen ... At--one--ment ... means to be in tune in present moment with All That Is. 

In this piece we move from the Eastern, Japanese or Indian culture, into the Western/Middle East culture with the coming of Christianity. Even though Veni Creator Spiritus is a Gregorian Christian hymn it evokes a sense of eternity. This chant is an invocation to the Creator which confers a blessing on all creatures, past present and to come. We ask the great Creator Spirit to fill their hearts and ours with heavenly grace releasing the past and delivering us complete and whole into the moment of now. As we sing this chant we honor each species of animal, and each individual within each species for their power, their wisdom and their courage. 

THREE
Resting in the Divine 
Prayer of the Four Immeasurables

Tad yatha Bekaja Bekaja
Maha Bekaja Raja
Samudgate ye soha

Translation:
Living beings are innumerable
Like the stars in the sky.
May they have happiness 
and the causes of happiness.
May they be free of suffering 
and the causes of suffering
May they never be separated
from sacred bliss.
With heart and mind liberated from dualities,
May they always be in a state 
of absolute equanimity.

Resting in the Divine is a blessing of happiness. May the animals have lives free of suffering. May they always be in the state of absolute equanimity, and the Tara Chant
Is a blessing of compassion. Sound vibrations are energy and are carried everywhere by ether, a mysterious element yet to be discovered by official science. When animals listen to particular sound vibrations they listen to the mood or intention carried by either which is omni-present. When there is a particular intention in the heart automatically this intention is transmitted into the sound vibrations. So the sound vibration carries our intention to the animals in the same way the air carries the fragrance of a flower. First our compassion was in the intention that was set at the beginning of the project. Then we carried this intention in our hearts as the music unfolded. Our intention was compassion not only for the animals but compassion for human beings that they may see beyond physical differences to the soul that animates animals. If we develop this vision then we will have compassion. As you listen to this music and add the energy of your compassion with ours, the vibrational field of compassion created by the music will increase and each human being or animal that hears it will perceive this intention and compassion will expand again. May the fragrance of compassion ride on the ether and be perceived by all living beings in all dimensions.

A Sacrament of Forgiveness Between Species (A Celebration of Oneness)
For far too long the relationship of human beings toward non-human animals has been largely one of exploitation and abuse. While on the one hand the great bulk of humanity still tends to regard non human animals as dispensible commodities, for others whose hearts have opened to the precious sacredness of the animal kingdom contemplating the magnitude of the suffering animals have sustained at the hands of human beings over millennia can seem overwhelming and beyond our capacity to face or to resolve. The pain often seems to great to bear. In reaction the tendency is to move to one of two extremes; either retreat into a self-protective shell of numbness or strike out at a perceived offender. But extremes are by their very nature divisive. What is needed on the other hand is a massive act of ego-less heart opening by and for all beings without exception; One complete, powerful, potent and perfect moment in time met in truthfulness, total compassion and nakedness. Such a collective act of atonement transcend space and time releasing all beings to move forward together toward their highest potential. 

MORE ABOUT SPIRITUS

   Loving Animals, Healing Ourselves A Celebration of Inter-Species Union

The sacred sounds and mantras recorded on Spiritus are an instrument to facilitate the re-sanctification of the bond between human beings and other animals, bringing animals and all of nature once again into the fold of Sacred Tradition. As we participate together in this offering we clear past disharmony, enhance the reception of grace, restore balance and render profound interspecies communion. This prayerful communion has the potential of catalyzing the restoration of the Divine Plan on Earth, a plan of peace and harmony for all beings and things.

All healing is available in the sacred moment of now. Sacred music offers the perfect, prayerful healing vehicle bringing us into present time, liberating us from the bounds of our ego selves, bypassing emotions of remorse, blame and unworthiness, and delivering us to that place of silence where animals naturally abide. Enter this heart-space with us, where deeper states of resonance with your beloved non-human friends and all animals await.

Throughout history, our relationship with animals has been largely one of exploitation and abuse. For those of us who love animals, the magnitude of the suffering they have sustained over the millennia is often overwhelming and unbearably painful. Our tendency is to either retreat into a self-protective shell of numbness or strike out at a perceived offender. By choosing and participating in an act of forgiveness, we become empowered and are able to experience the potency of a perfect moment in time when humans and animals can met in truthfulness, total compassion and openness. Such a process and act of forgiveness allows us to fully participate in a celebration of interspecies union. 

When I met Patrick Bernard in the spring of 2002 the profound and deeply spiritual nature of his music, which I had enjoyed for many years, merged with a deep and awe-inspiring respect for the purity of his personal being. In that moment, I knew I had come upon the individual and vehicle with which to offer atonement to the animals. Patrick does not compose music, he is composed by music, it is a sacred service, a prayer that comes through him. With Patrick s participation, I truly believe we, the animals, and and our relationship with them will be born anew. 

May this offering of sacred musick be a musical sanctuary for all who believe that God's unlimited love and compassion extends to non-humans and through them to all of nature and Earth itself. As you listen to this musical offering and when you play it for your animal companions you will be adding your own prayerfulness, facilitating a healing on a scale none of us could accomplish individually.

How Can Music Heal Animals?

   Sacred music has an uplifting and healing effect on human beings, animals, plants and even the surrounding environment. It truly transcends all boundaries. Sacred music sooths the spirit, builds trust, lowers heart rate and blood pressure and has the potential to touch the soul in a way that nothing else does. Such music also transcends commonly perceived boundaries, touching and healing the one soul of which we are all a part. The universal aspect of soul responds to harmony and beauty regardless of its temporary resting place. Sacred music is the language of the soul translated into vibrational harmonies. These vibrational harmonies produces their effect on every type of being. We like to divide the world into categories as such as: rational beings, feeling beings and inanimate objects. However it has been shown that animals, plants and even water are profoundly effected by the harmonic patterns to which they are subjected. . The music, or vibration, of nature.... the flowers and trees dancing rhythmically in the wind, the murmuring of the breeze, the whistling of the wind, the harmony of sun and moon, animals, birds, and plants communicate through the music of nature.

How can sacred music restore the bond between animals and human beings?
At a soul level, sacred music shifts consciousness, touching past, present and future at once offering a gentle, non-invasive means of assisting animals in the release of past trauma on both a personal and collective level. This brings them fully and safely into present time undamaged and whole where they can begin to fully experience our love for them. We, and the animals, are then freed from the dark shadow of the past and into the light where we can evolve and grow together in compassion and loving-kindness.

How is it possible to heal the past?
Illumined beings of all ages have spoken of the One Great Soul of which all beings and things are a part, and the presence of the past and future in the moment of now. As all the parts of a holographic image contain the of the whole image, so we and all other beings and things contain one another. No joy or pain is experienced in isolation. There is no other from which we are separated. In the same way that each of us contains the pain of all other beings, we also hold within ourselves the capacity to touch and to heal all other beings in all other times. Through prayerful atonement (at-one-ment) a blessing issues forth touching all beings in all dimensions of time and space.

Sacred music is universal in its effect. Bypassing the thinking mind, it offers us the perfect vehicle for healing that is not limited to the present, touching souls of all beings whether incarnate or in spirit. A healing occurs that transcends space and time. Old scars and wounds heal, oppression is lifted, guilt is relieved and equanimity restored to all. Each time you play this music for yourself and your animal companion a healing is transferred to the soul of all animals and people.

Why are animals today traumatized by past occurrences?
Animals have maintained their telepathic link with one-another. Each animal feels intimately the joy and suffering of all animals. Their ability to feel with one another transcends the confines of space and time, all events merging simultaneously in the now. Reflecting on the millions upon millions of animals that have suffered experimentation, slaughter, cruelty and euthanasia over the millennia we can then understand why so many animals experience anxiety and fear that appears to have no logical cause. Even animals that have been deeply loved since birth can be overcome with anxieties and fears that arise out of the collective memory of their species; a collective memory that contains horror upon horror inflicted upon them by human beings since the beginning of time.

Using Spiritus as a compliment to other healing modalities.
Music has the power to eliminate fear and anxiety that masquerade as physical illness in both human and non-human animals. Even after physical illness has taken hold in the physical body and more invasive procedures are necessary to restore an animal to health, an offering of sacred music prepares them to receive such treatments in a relaxed and un-traumatized state, greatly facilitating both the benefits of the procedure and the animal s recovery. For this reason Sacred Music for Sacred Friends is a perfect compliment to both holistic and allopathic treatment. 

Specific Benefits of Sacred Music for Animals.
Human beings ruminate over things, doubting and questioning in ways that prevent or lessen the effects of many subtle and even gross therapies. Animals simply and spontaneously rise in consciousness to the highest vibration that is presented to them. Because of this, sacred music often work wonders with even the most seriously traumatized animals restoring them to balance and wholeness.

How does Spiritus benefit people and the earth?
Our salvation, the salvation of other creatures and the salvation of Earth will occur as we return to our hearts and essence as our source of wisdom and guidance. How better might we begin to develop our hearts than by re-establishing a loving, respectful and helpful relationship with animals, those creatures who have companioned us so faithfully for centuries, enduring hardship, loneliness, cruelty and often death at our expense?

MEDITATION FOR RESTORING THE SACRED BOND BETWEEN SPECIES

   As you listen to this musical offering with your beloved
animal friend call upon the light&breathe it in. 

As you breathe in, imagine that you are filling every particle of your being with divine light and that divine light fills your heart, mind and all the cells and atoms of your body.

On your next breath imagine that you are breathing in the light for all people on earth. Allow the divine light to fill their hearts, minds and every cell and atom of their bodies. 

Imagine that you are filling every particle of your animal companion s being with divine light and that divine light fills his heart, mind cells and atoms.

Now, imagine that you are filling all animals of all species with divine light and that divine light fills their hearts, minds, cells and atoms.

Imagine that the breath of divine light is restoring their hearts, minds and bodies, at that their sacred connection with one another connects all beings on earth.

From this sacred space of connection, imagine the combined light of all beings radiating out and encompassing the plant and mineral kingdoms penetrating deeply into the core of fEarth.

From the core of Earth s restored heart---imagine the earth radiating divine light deep into space connecting with and illuminating the stars, planets, galaxies, solar systems and all beings that reside in all universes.

On an in-breath feel the loving, healing light of all beings and things in our universe and all universes beyond filling your heart, mind and body.

On the out-breath send back the healing light to all beings in all universes.

Continue breathing in and out in this manner for as long as comfortable.

When you finish imagine one pulsating heart light.

About Patrick Bernard

     When I met in the spring of 2002 the profound and deeply spiritual nature of his music merged with a deep and awe-inspiring respect for the purity of his personal being. In that moment, I knew I had come upon the individual and vehicle with which to offer atonement to the animals. Patrick does not compose music, he is composed by music, it is a sacred service, a prayer that comes through him. With Patrick s participation, I truly believe we, the animals, and and our relationship with them will be born anew. Sharon Callahan, Mount Shasta, CA 2006