What exactly is a Gong Puja Sound Experience?
Image: Guadalajara, Mexico GMT May 2022
Don refers to the overnight Gong Puja Experience as “A Spiritual Puja Gong Jam - Pajama Party!". where one might stay totally awake while totally asleep......in the biss-filled oceanic embrace of Sensorial Lining Tone
Typically, participants arrive and settle into their “spots” or beds for the night. Various configurations are used in terms of the space being utilized. You can have a Gong Puja longer or shorter during daylight hours as well.
During Winter all-nighters can last longer but during Summer, the early morning sunrise is right on time.
There is usually an area outside that has water/tea/hydration and light vegetarian snacks. The group may sing in communal Shruti, together do an exercise Kriya or listen to a teaching, then do some pranayama or breathing exercises prior to the start of the actual gong experience beginning.
The Gong or Gongs are played gently, especially for the newcomers to the gong throughout the night into early morning while participants sleep or meditate, typically on yoga mats or cushions within the sonic field (customarily lasting 7 1/2 hours/450 minutes).
In the early morning when waking up time is near, the volume or intensity can increase and when the sound experience approaches the end, the gongs can just for a moment be brought up to a louder "pink or white sound"- this will either move participants deeper within the meditation or bring them out knowing the end of the puja is near. This is called entering the point of the flame...and the pregnant silence!....before group sharing or further acivities.
Another more daring way of creating a different total gong sound immersion experience is to allow an increase in volume during each of the 45 minute segments, "like a tip of a flame" thereby moving the listening participants through various levels of the akasha. The participant will be in a brain wave state of "delta, theta, alpha, beta" the shift in volume allows the participant to move into a different brain wave state - thus mimicking the shifts that occur during a typical 5 times of 90-minute cycles of sleep or 450 minutes. This is rather a sensitive thing so ....someone then has to be listening and with agreed on signals conduct the nocturnal symphony.
Although the puja structure is here, it is still the skeleton or framework. Every person designing or creating the event will use creativity and gong consciousness to design what is channeled through them. Sensitive transitional instruments can be added as time markers plus, including the voice, bells, chimes, bowels, bird whistles, conches, digeridoos, etc
Grand Gongmaster Don Conreaux:
I see the transvolution of the total gong immersion/living tone saturation will continue to expand in the world, according to the growth ratio of PHI, its sonic body of living gong tone.
What does this mean? The complete Gong tone immersion - allows each a front row seat in a Theatre for the Inner self, a Theater of the Soul. That means that the creative flow of the person designing or creating the event has much leeway for creativity. and sees the experience as an initiation a something special that initiates a quantum change or improvement.
"Spontaneous Healing comes outside of time". The gong "stops time" during its suspension of tone process - then our 24 hour innate intelligence repairs better when the ego "I, me, my" is out of the way.
We are not meant to be stagnant in thought and action, rather we are meant to use our gong consciousness for becoming more and more adaptable to the needs of the moment. The Gong teaches us/unfolds in us the ability to create and cross-fertilize ideas. "One Gongmaster - Many Bodies". Together we all can advance in functional harmony to quicken the whole network of the Mother Gaia/Terra Forma gong family of the world.
Just when immediately after the Gongs stop completely, there is a pregnant silence called the assimilation time, and might last for several minutes in Shuya/total silence, the Ceremony then might continue after this "Shunya", or Pregnant Silence with the re-birthing sounds of the Wind Chimes, or bird whistles, and/or bowls or songs & affirmations or song.
In the morning after an all night gonging, the participants rise freshly reborn to greet the day, and then after packing up, we sometimes enjoy a light breakfast together.
As to the closing of the gong puja, it may end after the final strioke fades into silence or it may end later or again with a closing circle which offers participants an opportunity to integrate and verbalize any experiences they wish to share or later after breakfast.
Don Conreaux encourages a sharing group Shruti or a meditation led by any chosen her or him as master of closing ceremonies. Some examples of a potent closing include using the Shruti for a call & response song, performing the Universal Greeting, closing with collective “Ohm”, etc. Participants then depart feeling refreshed, relaxed, renewed and in a healing space.