"Sound feels timeless, and the silence between phrases becomes as rich as the notes themselves": An Interview With Rina Rain
A conversation with mantra artist and meditation guide Rina Rain on "Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha", silence, compassion, and music as a place to come home.
A mantra artist and meditation guide based in the Bay Area, Rina Rain brings over twenty years of experience in mindfulness, coaching, and inner work into songs shaped by ancient Sanskrit chants, gentle vocals, and spacious modern soundscapes. Her latest single, Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha, invokes Green Tara - compassion in action - offering a prayer for protection from fear and a return to inner stillness.
We caught up with Rina to talk about music as a threshold rather than a performance, the power of silence, fear and visibility as an artist, how mantra becomes a shared space of presence, healing, and connection, and more.
Eugenia Roditis, Musicngear: Hi Rina, welcome to Musicngear! Your music isn’t framed as a performance, but as a threshold. When you step into recording or chanting, what tells you that the space has shifted from “making a song” into something sacred or transformational?
That transition is perceptible in awareness. When I’m simply singing, it’s music. But when I prepare to record a mantra - by grounding myself, meditating, clearing distractions - something shifts. The mind becomes profoundly still.
When I recorded, especially with Lokah Samastah, the experience felt like floating in a vast, empty space. I could hear my voice reverberating as if sound traveled beyond time. It wasn’t about technique; it was about presence and resonance.
In that space, sound feels timeless, and the silence between phrases becomes as rich as the notes themselves. The deeper the inner stillness, the more the music becomes a threshold rather than a performance.
Musicngear: “Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha” invokes compassion in action. How do you translate compassion into daily life, especially during fear or uncertainty?
For me, compassion always starts within. I notice when I judge myself or others, and I pause to question my thoughts. When I soften my view, I find a more balanced perspective.
Over time, meditation has helped me cultivate clarity and emotional resilience. In moments of fear or uncertainty, I lean even more into meditation, reflection, movement, and gratitude. These practices help interrupt automatic negative thoughts and bring me back to what is true in the present moment.
With others, I try to bring that same awareness - offering encouragement, support, and presence rather than judgment.
Musicngear: You’ve spent over twenty years guiding others through mindfulness, coaching, and personal development. What has been the most difficult inner obstacle you’ve had to overcome as an artist stepping into the public music world, and what would you say to artists navigating similar fears or resistance?
The biggest hurdle was fear - fear of public opinion and being visible as an artist. I’m naturally private, and when I first recorded my mantras, I kept them within a small circle of friends.
It was only after encouragement from listeners and music professionals that I found the courage to pursue post-production and release. Releasing something sacred like mantras - especially when you love and respect traditions like those of Jai Uttal and Deva Premal - can feel daunting.
But it was the healing power of the practice in my own life that eventually gave me the confidence to share it.
To other artists navigating fear: trust your path. When you act on what calls to you, the next right step usually reveals itself.
True success for me is hearing that the music soothes, calms, or supports someone — especially during emotional weight or transition
Musicngear: Your upcoming album, Whispers of Rain, is created for contemplation and deep peace, intentionally spacious in a fast world. How do you reconcile spiritual integrity with the modern demands of music promotion and visibility?
Spiritual integrity isn’t separate from the rest of the creative process. It includes the entire process: creation, release, and how the work reaches listeners.
When promotion becomes an act of offering calm and connection, it becomes part of the art. Choosing collaborators who share that mission has helped make promotion feel like an extension of the music’s heart, not something separate from it.
Musicngear: When you think about the goals surrounding this album, whether it’s streams, live gatherings, press coverage, or something less measurable, what does “success” actually mean to you, and how are you approaching the release in alignment with your values?
True success for me is hearing that the music soothes, calms, or supports someone — especially during emotional weight or transition. That reflects the deeper purpose of the work: to offer refuge, presence, and connection to what’s already within.
During the release process, I stay focused on the present step: refining the next mix, sharing a quote, or answering listeners' comments - that keeps me rooted.
What matters most is how the music touches people in a way that mirrors how mantra has supported me throughout my life.
Musicngear: Is there an artist or producer within or outside mantra/music-for-healing communities you’d love to collaborate with?
I would love to collaborate with Deva Premal and Miten.
I’m also curious about collaborations that bridge chant traditions with modern sound design, such as sacred music traditions (monks, devotional singers, prayer forms) and contemporary ambient or downtempo beats, all while honoring the source traditions.
Musicngear: If your music were experienced live, not as a concert but as a shared ritual, what kind of environments would you want to bring it into - specific venues, festivals, or even non-traditional settings?
It’s less about the venue and more about the intention.
I would envision gatherings that blend silence, guided meditation, and collective chanting, with the shared aim of calming the heart and remembering our inner strength.
I’d love to share this music in spaces where contemplative practice can be welcomed: temples, retreat centers, forests, concert halls, educational institutions, or corporate meeting rooms - any place where people come together to open their hearts.
One idea I’m really excited about is a live residential retreat where silent meditation, guided journeys, and mantra singing form a shared experience — more than a performance, a deep immersion. Details will be on www.rinarain.com when it launches in February 2026.
Musicngear: Is there a particular instrument, tone, or sonic frequency you feel especially attuned to? Something that shifts your sense of presence the moment you hear or work with it?
I’m deeply drawn to the sounds of nature — especially the ocean.
There’s something about the rhythm of the waves that brings me instantly into the present moment. Each wave becomes an invitation to breathe, to be still, and to remember that all is well.
That sense of presence influences how I think about space, rhythm, and resonance in the mantras.
Musicngear: Silence is a core part of your sound; the “space between the notes”. How do you know when a track is complete, when the silence is doing exactly what it needs to?
Silence is as important to me as sound. In mantra music, every pause, every breath, every silent space becomes part of the composition.
During studio sessions with producer Alvydas Mačiulskas, we would start with a short meditation and allow sound and silence to unfold naturally. Nothing was scripted.
When we were recording Lokah, after two vocal layers, I thought the track was done. Then I felt a wave of emotion rise up, and without words, Alvydas understood that something more was needed.
That’s when the final layer and the spoken passage came into being. Later, Ben Leinbach helped shape the tracks in post-production, preserving simplicity and spaciousness, and crafting each piece into an inner journey.
Musicngear: Many listeners come to your music during moments of heaviness or transition. How do you protect your own energy while holding space for others through mantra and meditation-based music?
I believe that what people feel from this music is not just me holding space; the mantra itself holds space.
Mantra is a tool for the mind: Sanskrit manas (mind) + tra (tool) - a practice that reconnects listeners with the calm and wisdom they already carry inside.
Modern science supports what these traditions have long known: repetitive sound and meditation activate the relaxation response, a state of deep physiological calm first documented by Dr. Herbert Benson at Harvard.
Today, more than 16,000 scientific studies confirm the benefits of mantra, meditation, and sound for well-being.
When people use these practices for comfort, clarity, or healing, they are engaging with a tool that meets them exactly where they are.
In that sense, we all hold space for one another through compassion, kindness, and shared presence.
Musicngear: Looking beyond Whispers of Rain, what is unfolding for you next?
I’m excited about what’s ahead. In January 2026, I’m releasing a new single. In March, the full album Whispers of Rain arrives.
I’m also releasing a guided meditation album called Journey to Self, featuring ten journeys into relaxation, healing, and emotional release.
I hope to host a live retreat in California called Sound to Silence, where participants can explore the inner world through gentle sound and deeper immersion into silence.
My wish is that as science continues to evolve, we keep honoring and integrating ancient contemplative practices for the development, healing, and awakening of humanity.
Modern science now supports what these traditions have long known - and yet there is still very little integration of contemplative practice into education, healthcare, or social systems.
I hope to contribute to that integration by helping make these practices more accessible in daily life.
Connect with Rina Rain
Website / Instagram / YouTube / Spotify
About Eugenia Roditis
Eugenia's passion for music was ignited from an early age as she grew up in a family of musicians. She loves attending concerts and festivals, while constantly seeking fresh and exciting new artists across diverse genres. Eugenia joined the MusicnGear team in 2012.
Contact Eugenia Roditis at eugenia.roditis@kinkl.com
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