Why and how can we speak about this form of singing as being a spiritual path, a meditation, a Yoga, a therapy?

    First of all, we have to know that this music is not being composed, it is a reflection of cosmic laws and it is attuned to the energies of the universe in which we live. Therefore the Râga of the Indian music are related to different hours of the day and night, to different seasons of the year. Interpreting a Râga will attune us to the energies or mood of the very hour or season.
The concept of mood or Ras is an important one in the Indian music. In singing one must be imbibed in the Ras or feeling of the Râga. More important even than the Ras is the Sthây Bhâv which is the essence of the Râga, inherent to it and that can only be perceived or expressed when the listener and the interpreter both are in a state of deep contemplation. In this resides the difficulty of this music, may be more than in its technique!
   Indeed, to achieve the excellence in this music, to reach its beauty, one must merge oneself into the Râga or we could also say that the ego must be withdrawn or so diminished that the Râga itself can sing in us, that it can unfold itself freely!
To attain this level it must be clear that a discipline and a good training are required, as much as for any other forms of Yoga or spiritual practices. Indeed, in ancient time, twelve years was the given time for any studies, but surely the way to perfection is much longer…
   The devotion to the spiritual master or Guru was part of the teaching; through this devotion the disciple surrendered his ego to the master, to God, to music! It is still the case nowadays if one has the chance to meet a real spiritual master!
It should be mentioned that the practice of one form of Yoga, for instance Nâda Yoga does not exclude the practice of other forms which can sustain and support each other.
   It should be mentioned that the practice of one form of Yoga, for instance Nâda Yoga does not exclude the practice of other forms which can sustain and support each other.

   "In India, music holds a privileged place as compared to all the other forms of Sacred Art, and this is especially true of vocal music, for it is held to be the most direct path to Union with the Supreme Being…Indian vocal music is called Nâda Yoga, the Yoga of Universal Sound which is the ultimate quintessence and can only be achieved after having gained complete mastery of the eight stages of Yoga, from the Yam (restraint) to the Supreme Consciousness, Samâdhi". (Excerpt from a text from the Dhrupad Society).