"Hindus have a greater respect for the spoken word than do people in the West. Not only every word in a mantra, but practically every sound and every word in the language is called akshara in Sanskrit, which means "the indestructible." Akshara is also a name for God. A true mantra should be sung not spoken. Indian scriptures call Brahma the Creator "the first singer." Our world is said to have sprung from the mantra he sang. In the West, these ideas are probably utterly foreIgn, and yet there are traces of similar teachings.""