the yoga of sound -- exploring sound meditation (auditory mysticism, surat shabd yoga) in the sacred...

7/22/2019 The Yoga of Sound -- Exploring Sound Meditation (Auditory Mysticism, Surat Shabd Yoga) in the Sacred Texts of the Great World Religions and Gnostic Traditi

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The Yoga of Sound --Exploring Sound

Meditation (AuditoryMysticism, Surat Shabd

Yoga) in the SacredTexts of the Great

World Religions and

Gnostic Traditions --Tuning the CosmicRadio Dial, By James

BeanCopyright October 2004

-- All Rights Reserved


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Introduction

No doubt, many of you saw the movieContact, based upon the book withthat same title authored by the lateDr. Carl Sagan. The story was aboutSETI -- the search of extraterrestrial

intelligence. In this film scientistsintercepted radio signal emanating

from another part of the galaxy.These broadcasts were being beamed

directly at the earth by an alien

civilization trying to get ourattention. After many years they

finally succeeded. Their message waseventually deciphered; it contained

schematics for constructing a

transportation device which wouldallow humans to travel to the distantworld where the signals were coming

from.


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After viewing this very worthwhileand philosophical film, I couldn't

help comparing the parallelsbetween this SETI scenario and oneof the world's oldest forms of yoga-

meditation: Surat Shabd Meditation,the Yoga of the Sound Current.

'Shabda' is based on an ancientSanskrit word for divine or cosmic

Sound: heavenly music. Forthousands of years, human beingsaround the world have been tuning

into a Sound which comes frombeyond the stars. For the

practitioners of the Yoga of Sound,this heavenly music is also a meansof transportation. By becoming one

with the Holy Stream of Sound, soulsduring their meditation practice mayfind themselves ascending in spirittoward the place where the Sound


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emanates. This Sound connects all

souls of the universe to the Timeless(akal) realm of the Great Spirit (Haq,

Sat, Sach Khand).

Inner and Outer Sound in the World

Religions

Being an initiate of Shabd Meditationand very much interested in

comparative mysticism and religion,

I would like to share with you somequotes from around the world on

clairaudience, the ability to hear themystic-Sound, the Song of the

Creator, the Voice of the Great Life

that brought all the bubble universesinto existence.


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SACRED MUSIC IN THE WORLDRELIGIONS ATTEMPTING TO

IMITATE OR MIMIC THE MYSTIC-

SOUND

The Sound of God's Voice said, "Letthere be..."

"In the Beginning was the Word, theLogos, the Tao, the Shabda, the

Nada, the Saut-e Sarmad..."

Indigenous cultures support the

belief that the universe was broughtinto existence through sound. TheAustralian Aborigines believe in"Songlines," meaning the "Way of

the Law," which sang the world, and

everything in it, into existence.Native American traditions speak ofthe "Song of the Creator" thatcreated life and sustains the


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universe.

The Book of the Hopi (Native

American spirituality), the firstrevelation of the Hopi's historicaland religious world-view of life,

contains a beautiful story ofcreation. In this "genesis" account,

the Song of Creation is the essentialForce that brings to life the firsthumans, and the Earth itself is

described as a musical instrument."All the vibratory centers along the

Earth's axis from pole to poleresounded His Call; the Earth

trembled; the universe quivered intune. Thus He made the whole world

an instrument of sound, and an

instrument for carrying messages,resounding praise to the Creator ofall." In this account, it says that it is

our duty, our sacred purpose as


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human beings to echo this song ofcreation back to the Creator again by"making a joyful sound throughout

the land."

Chant and sacred music of the worldreligions can also cause souls to

yearn to hear the real Harmony of

All Harmonies, to develop a desire tomeditate upon the INNER Sound of

the Creator that fills the heavens.According to the Masters of Sant Mat

and those who practice Surat Shabd

Yoga, this Current of Sound, Light,and Love will take us back to God

again, will take us Home, if webecome one with it. More later on

this Yoga of the Audible Life Stream.

Sacred music is IMITATING,MIMICKING higher spiritual sounds,bringing some aspect of the Music of


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Heaven to the physical world.Tibetan bells and bowls do this veryeffectively. The inventor of the Sitar,

the most well-known instrument ofIndian classical music, said that itwas his attempt to "capture the

music of the Spirit in terms of thephysical world." (The Pilgrimage of

James, George Arnsby Jones,Peacehaven Press) He considered his

attempt "a failure." As beautiful asthe sitar is, the Real Sound is farmore glorious than any sound or

outer music of this world.

Harmonic overtone chanting (thesinging of two or more notes at the

same time!) is a vocal technique used

in Mongolia, Tuva, Laos, and otherAsian countries. The human voice istransformed into a sonic rainbow of

tones and overtones making the


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voice resemble the Music of theSpheres. A few years back I learnedhow to do this wonderful practice.

In India, many have verbalized theSound of the universe as

"AAAAAUUUUUMMMMM," the OMchant. In Tibet, Buddhist monks

created an otherworldly form ofchant -- their attempt to reproduce

audibly something of the innersounds they heard during their

meditations. The various Christian,

Sethian (Jewish), Hermetic, andother Gnostic schools of Egypt also

devised forms of chant that theyperceived as verbally

mimicking/expressing the Real

Name of God that otherwise ishidden in the silence of the soul.They chanted various combinationsof vowels and have included them in


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their prayers: "I praise You. I callyour Name that is hidden within me:

A O EE O EE OOOOOOOIIIII

OOOOOO OOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO." ("TheGospel of the Egyptians" in, The NagHammadi Library In English, James

M. Robinson, HarperSanFrancisco)

The Gnostic Gospels are filled withmany examples of chant and Namesof God that were used by Egyptian

mystics and monks duringmeditation practice to explore the

Kingdom of the Heavens within, theWonders of Inner Space. These

ancient texts provide many examples

of souls ascending in spirit throughvarious heavenly realms on their wayback to "The Eighth," the heavenly

state or realm of Ultimate Reality


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where the Nameless God resides,beyond all the veils of Light, Sound,

and illusion.

Whether it's drumming, RussianOrthodox or Coptic chant, or

Gregorian plain-chant, an Indianclassical raga or bagpipes, for

millennia humans have been echoingvarious aspects of this Song of

Creation. "For in the beginning ofthe times so did we all share in the

Holy Stream of Sound that gave birth

to all creation." (Essene Gospel ofPeace, authored by Edmond

Bordeaux Szekely, Volume Four)

Across the many centuries and

around the world, mystics, in thescriptures they left behind, recordedsome of their experiences with inner

Sound, the heavenly Music that


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comes from beyond the silence.Encountering the Sound Current

might be as subtle as hearing a faint

tone or hum in meditation, or asblissful as becoming one with a

cosmic symphony on a higher planeof existence -- an experience beyondwhat earthly language is capable of

truly conveying.

THE SOUND CURRENT OFENLIGHTENMENT IN BUDDHIST

MYSTICISM

The Divine Eye According to theBuddha

"With the Divine Eye, which is

purified and surpasses the human, abhikkhu surveys a thousand worlds.Just as a man with good sight whenhe has ascended to the upper palace


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chamber, might survey a thousandwheel-rims, so too, with the DivineEye, which is purified and surpasses

the human, a bhikkhu surveys athousand worlds."

The Divine Ear According to theBuddha

"I have proclaimed to my disciplesthe way whereby with the Divine Ear

element, which is purified andsurpasses the human, they hear both

kinds of sounds, the divine and thehuman, those that are far as well asnear. Just as a vigorous trumpetermight make himself heard without

difficulty in the four quarters; so too,

I have proclaimed to my disciples theway whereby with the Divine Earelement -- far as well as near. And

thereby many disciples of mine abide


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having reached the consummationand Perfection of Direct Knowledge."

(The Middle Length Discourses of

the Buddha -- A Translation of theMajjhima Nikaya, Teachings of the

Buddha, translated by BhakkhuNanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi,

Wisdom Publications)

"It is easiest to hear this Sound whenit is quiet, particularly at night-time.Once you have identified this Sound,then you place your awareness on it

without wavering. Resting your mindin the Sound, you continue to listen,

going further and further into theSound itself." ("Mind Beyond

Death", Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche,

Snow Lion Publications)

"As you calm down, you canexperience the Sound of Silence in


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the mind. You hear it as a kind ofhigh frequency Sound, a ringing

Sound that's always there. It is just

normally never noticed. Now whenyou begin to hear that Sound of

Silence, it's a sign of emptiness -- ofsilence of the mind. It's something

you can always turn to. As you

concentrate on it and turn to it, it canmake you quite peaceful and blissful.Meditating on that, you have a way of

letting the conditions of the mindcease without suppressing them with

another condition. Otherwise youjust end up putting one conditionover another." (Ajahn Sumedho, a

bhikkhu of the Theravadan school ofBuddhism, from, The Sound of

Silence)

"Avalokiteshvara Buddha (QuanYin), the hearer and answerer of


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prayer, has visited all the Buddha-lands of the ten quarters of the

universe and has acquired

transcendental powers of boundlessfreedom and fearlessness and hasvowed to emancipate all sentient

beings from their bondage andsuffering. ... How sweetly mysterious

is the Transcendental Sound ofAvalokiteshvara! Is is the subdued

murmur of the sea-tide settinginward. Its mysterious Sound bringsliberation and peace to all sentient

beings who in their distress arecalling for aid." (Surangama Sutra,

"A Buddhist Bible, Dwight Goddard)

"Ananda and all you who listen here

Should inward turn your facultyOf hearing to hear your own natureWhich alone achieves Supreme

Bodhi.


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That is how enlightenment is won.Buddhas as many as the Ganges'

sand

Entered this one gateway to Nirvana.All past Tathagathatas

Have achieved this method."("The Surangama Sutra", Selections

from the

Upasaka Lu K'uan Yu Translation,Published by Rider and Company,

London)

"Listening to the inner Sound brings

the heart into a position of acuteinner awareness. It is not that the

inner Sound has some magicalproperty. Rather, it is that bringing

of the alert mind, bringing openness

and receptivity to Sound, is symbolicof the presence of Ultimate Truth.The Sound is always there. We don't

have to create it. It is featureless. It is


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ever present. So it is a good symbolfor Ultimate Reality itself." "In the

sutra the Buddha praised this

method, the meditation on listening,as the best method for

enlightenment. Ajahn Sumedho hadbeen teaching the meditation on the

Nada Sound for some years so he

was tickled by this connection toanother Buddhist tradition. He

hadn't realized that there had beenso much emphasis on this in

traditional Buddhist meditation

practices." (Ajahn Amaro)

"O nobly-born, when thy body andmind were separating, thou musthave experienced a glimpse of the

Pure Truth, subtle, sparkling, bright,dazzling, glorious, and radiantlyawesome, in appearance like a

mirage moving across a landscape in


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springtime in one continuous streamof vibrations. Be not daunted

thereby, nor terrified, nor awed.

That is the radiance of thine owntrue nature. Recognize it. From themidst of that radiance, the natural

sound of Reality, reverberating like athousand thunders simultaneously

sounding, will come. That is thenatural sound of thine own real self.

Be not daunted thereby, norterrified, nor awed. O nobly-born,five-colored radiances ... vibrating

and dazzling like colored threads,flashing, radiant, and transparent,glorious and awe-inspiring, will ...strike against thy heart, so bright

that the eye cannot bear to look upon

them. ... Be not afraid of thatbrilliant radiance of five colors, norterrified; but know that Wisdom to

be thine own. Within those


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radiances, the natural sound of theTruth will reverberate like a

thousand thunders. The sound will

come with a rolling reverberation.Fear not. Flee not. Be not terrified.

Know them (i.e., these sounds) to be(of) ... thine own inner light."

(Extracts from, "The Tibetan Book of

the Dead" -- Bardo Thodol), edited byDr. W. Y. Evans-Wentz)

Ajahn Amaro: "When he [AjahnSumedho] first taught this method to

the Sangha at Chithurst that winter,he referred to it as 'the sound of

silence' and the name stuck. Later, ashe began to teach the method on

retreats for the lay community, he

began to hear about its use frompeople experienced in Hindu andSikh meditation practices. In these

traditions, he found out, this


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concentration on the inner soundwas known as nada yoga, or 'the yoga

of inner light and sound.' It also

turned out that books had beenwritten on the subject,

commentaries in English as well asancient scriptural treatises, notably,

"The Law of Attention: Nada Yoga

and the Way of Inner Vigilance", byEdward Salim Michael. In 1991,

when Ajahn Sumedho taught thesound of silence as a method on a

retreat at a Chinese monastery in the

United States, one of the participantswas moved to comment, 'I think you

have stumbled on the ShurangamaSamadhi. There is a meditation on

hearing that is described in that

sutra, and the practice you have beenteaching us seems to match itperfectly.'" ("Who is Listening?", by

Rev. Guo Cheen)


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Stages of Inner Sound Meditation inthe Shurangama Sutra, a Buddhist

Scripture:

"That Buddha taught me to entersamadhi [deep meditation, union]

through a process of listening. Ibegan with a practice based on the

nature of hearing. (1) First Iredirected my hearing inward inorder to enter the current of thesages. (2) Then external sounds

disappeared. (3) With its direction

reversed and with sounds stilled,both sounds and silence cease to

arise. (4) So it was that, as Igradually progressed, what I heardand my awareness of what I heard

came to an end. Even when that stateof mind in which everything hadcome to an end disappeared, I didnot rest. (5) My awareness and the


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objects of my awareness wereemptied, and when that process of

emptying my awareness was wholly

complete, then even that emptyingand what had been emptied

vanished. (6) Coming into being andceasing to be themselves ceased to

be. Then the Ultimate Stillness was

revealed." (Shrangama Sutra quotedin the white paper, "Who is

Listening?", all about transcendentalhearing, the sound of silence

meditation practice in Theravadan

Buddhism, by Rev. Guo Cheen)

INNER SPIRITUAL HEARING ANDSEEING IN BAHAI TEACHINGS

The following quote, which teachesus about acquiring 'spiritual eyes' istaken from, The Revelation of

Baha'u'llah, Vol. 2, p.31 by Adib


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Taherzadeh:

"Baha'u'llah teaches [quoting from]

the Mathnavi [written by Rumi, theSufi poet] that: 'man will not be ableto receive the Light of God in this day

unless he acquires a new Eye. Eyeswhich are fixed on the things of this

world can never see the glory of HisRevelation, and ears which are tuned

to the voices of the ungodly cannothear the Melodies of the Kingdom.'

By 'new eyes' and 'new ears' He

means spiritual eyes and spiritualears. He states that since the Eye of

the Spirit receives its Light from Godit is shameful to let it turn to a

stranger, and re-affirms that the

purpose of God in creating the innerEye was that man might behold thebeauty of His Manifestation in this

world.


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In, 'The Hidden Words', a Bahai text,Baha'u'llah reveals:

"O Son Of Dust! Blind thine eyes,that thou mayest behold My beauty;

stop thine ears, that thou mayesthearken unto the sweet Melody of My

Voice; empty thyself of all learning,that thou mayest partake of My

knowledge; and sanctify thyself fromriches, that thou mayest obtain a

lasting share from the ocean of My

eternal wealth. Blind thine eyes, thatis, to all save My beauty; stop thine

ears to all save My Word; emptythyself of all learning save the

knowledge of Me; that with a clear

vision, a pure heart and an attentiveEar thou mayest enter the court ofMy holiness."


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THE SOUND CURRENT -- THEAUDIBLE LIFE STREAM IN THEJUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION

The English Mystic Richard Rollereflects in "The Fire of Love:"

"When Christ wishes it ... he receives

within himself the Song sent intohim from the heavens, and his

meditation is changed into Melody,and his spirit lingers in marvelous

Harmony."

"In the Light of God which is calledthe Kingdom of Heaven the Sound iswholly soft, pleasant, lovely, pure

and thin ... God, who is a Spirit, has

by and through his manifestationintroduced himself into distinctspirits, which are the voices of hiseternal pregnant harmony in the


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manifested Word of his greatkingdom of joy: they are God'sinstrument, in which his Spirit

melodizes in his kingdom of joy; theyare angels, the flames of fire andlight, in a living, understanding

dominion.

"If you should in this world bringmany thousand sorts of musical

instruments together, and all shouldbe tuned in the best manner most

artificially, and the most skillful

masters of music should play onthem in concert together, all wouldbe no more than the howlings andbarkings of dogs in comparison of

the Divine Music, which rises

through the Divine Sound and tunesfrom Eternity to Eternity." (JacobBoehme, German Mystic)


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"In the beginning was the Logos (theWord), the Logos was with God and

the Logos was God." (John 1:1)

The Divine Logos... is the helmsmanand governor of the universe... Theeverlasting Logos of the eternal Godis the very sure and staunch prop of

the Whole... But the shadow of Godis his Word [Logos], which he used

like an instrument when he wasmaking the world. And this shadow,

and, as it were, model, is the

archetype of other things." (Philo ofAlexandria)

"Heaven is ever making Music,producing in accordance with its

celestial motions the PerfectHarmony. ... To such strains, it issaid, Moses was listening, when,having become disembodied, for


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forty days and as many nights hetouched neither bread nor water atall." (Philo of Alexandria, on, The

Music of the Spheres)

"Behold, my heart was amazed thatthus the Word was revealed to one

with ears unattuned, and that a

wayward heart was able to graspthese things." (The Master of

Qumran, The Dead Sea Scriptures,translated by T.H. Gaster, Anchor

Press)

"What else is Christ but the Sound ofGod." (Acts of John)

Experiences with the Sound Current

-- people hearing heavenly Music --are also recorded in the Bible andother spiritual writings of the West.

In the Book of Revelation we find


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this: "And I heard a Sound fromheaven like the roar of rushing

waters, and like a peal of thunder.

After that, the Sound I heard was likethat of harpists playing their harps."

(from Revelation, 14)

The Heavenly Sound of a Trumpet

induces the ascension to the heavensat the beginning of Revelation,

chapter four in the New Testament:

"After this I looked, and there before

me was a door standing open inheaven. And the voice I had first

heard speaking to me like a Trumpetsaid, 'Come up here, and I will show

you what must take place after this.'

At once I was in the Spirit, and therebefore me was a throne in heavenwith someone sitting on it.'"


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Enoch raised upon the wings of theShekina to the place of the Throne,the Merkaba and the angelic hosts:

"And I took him, that is, Enoch, theson of Jared, from among them. And

I lifted him up with Sound of aTrumpet and with a teru'a (shout) to

the high heavens, to be My witnesstogether with the Chayyoth* [angles]by the Merkaba* in world to come."(Third Enoch -- The Hebrew Book of

Enoch)

(Enoch Notes: *Merkaba is a Hebrewword and means 'God's Throne-

Chariot' and refers to the chariot ofEzekiel's vision. The goal of the

merkaba mystic was to enter thethrone world, after passing throughSeven Heavenly Mansions.

*Chayyoth or Hayyoth (Hebrew), a


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group of mighty angels who reside inthe seventh heaven.)

"Peter and I knelt down, gave thanks,and sent our hearts up to heaven. We

heard with our ears and saw withour eyes the sound of battles and aTrumpet's blast and utter turmoil.

And when we passed beyond thatplace, we sent our minds up further.

We saw with our eyes and heard withour ears hymns and angelic praises

and angelic rejoicing. Heavenly

majesties were singing hymns, andwe ourselves were rejoicing." (Secret

Book of James, Nag HammadiLibrary)

"Open your ears, and I shall speak toyou. Give Me yourself, so that I mayalso give you Myself." (Syriac Book of

the Odes, 9: 1-2)


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"God so wishes us to return to Him

that He keeps calling to us again andagain to approach Him. It is due to

His sweet holy Voice that our soul islost in ecstasy and surrenders totally

to His will". (Saint Teresa of Avila,

Spain)

"I heard a noise like wind blowing inmy ears and knew it for the Sound ofthe Holy Spirit which became like the

voice of a dove. When the Lord spoketo me I lost all sense of time. I did

not know if he was with me five or sixhours or only one. It was so holy andfull of grace that I felt as if I had been

in heaven." (Margery Kempe, TheMirror of Love)


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Hildegard of Bingen, the GermanMystic, wrote: "To the Trinity be

praise! God is Music, God is Life that

nurtures every creature in its kind."She also said:

"The soul is kissed by God in itsinnermost regions.

With interior yearning, grace andblessing are bestowed.

It is a yearning to take on God'sgentle yoke,

It is a yearning to give one's self to

God's way."

"The marvels of God are not broughtforth from one's self.

Rather, it is more like a Chord, a

Sound that is played.The tone does not come out of thechord itself, but rather,

through the touch of the Musician.


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I am, of course, the lyre and harp ofGod's kindness!"

"I think that no soul may truly feelthe angel's song or heavenly Sound,

unless it is in perfect love, thoughnot all that are in perfect love have

felt it, but only the soul that is so

purified in the fire of love that allearthly savor is burned out of it, and

all obstacles between the soul andthe cleanness of angels are broken

and put away from it. Then truly may

he sing a new song, and truly may hehear a blessed heavenly Sound, and

angel's song, without deceit orfeigning. Our Lord knows the soul

that, for abundance of burning love,

is worthy to hear angel's song."(Walter Hilton, The Song of Angels)


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The great Masters teach that theSound of God is within everyone --

this Holy Stream of Sound is within

every living thing. This is why thosegiven to exploring inner space

through meditation, be they from theEast or the West, have discovered

this Reality playing within

themselves.

HEARING THE SOUND CURRENTACCORDING TO THE GNOSTIC

GOSPELS

"Listen within yourself and look intothe infinitude of Space and Time.

There can be heard the songs of theConstellations, the voices of the

Numbers, and the Harmonies of theSpheres." (Hermes Trismegistus,Corpus Hermeticum of Egypt)


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Before the Sufi mystics of Islam, inancient times there were Gnostics:

Jewish, Hermetic, and Christian

mystics who also described hearingthe Sound, and seeing mystic visions

of Light and the heavens while indeep states of meditation. Thefollowing is from, The Gnostic

Mystery, by Andrea Grace Diem. Inher book about Sant Mat and

Gnosticism she frequently quotesfrom the Nag Hammadi Library, a

new testament-like collection of

sacred texts written in the Copticlanguage of Egypt (Gnostic Gospelsno doubt copied from earlier Greek

manuscripts):

"Man's soul shall become, when itleaveth the body, a great flood ofLight, so as to traverse all the regions

until it cometh into the Kingdom of


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Mystery."

"I turned to myself and saw Light

that surrounded me and the Goodthat was in me; I became divine."(Allogenes, which literally means

"the Stranger" or "Foreigner")

In Trimorphic Protennoia thegnostic writer (in the voice of God)describes how this transformation

takes place:

"I cast a Sound into the ears of thosewho know me. And I am inviting you

into the exalted, perfect Light.Moreover as for this Light, when you

enter it you will be glorified ... you

will become gloriously glorious, theway you first were when you wereLight. And I hid myself in everyoneand revealed myself within them,


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and every mind seeking me longedfor me, for it is I who gave shape tothe All when it had no form. And I

transformed their forms into otherforms until the time when a form willbe given to the All. It is through methat the Voice originated ... And it isa Word, by virtue of a Sound; it was

sent to illumine those who dwell indarkness...I am a Light that

illuminates the All. I am the Lightthat rejoices in my brethren, for I

came down to the world of

mortals..."

"When describing the philosophicalnature of the cosmos, Gnostic

writers emphasize this Sound

Current, variously referred to asWord, Voice, Logos, Speech, orsimply Sound. Also, throughout

Gnostic texts reference is made to


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the manifestation of a mystical Light,known as Treasury of Light,

Immeasurable Light, etc. In the

Trimorphic Protennoia it isdescribed in the following way"

(Andrea Grace Diem):

"I am the Word who dwells in the

ineffable Silence. I dwell in undefiledLight and a Thought revealed itself

perceptibly through the greatSound ... And it the Sound exists

from the beginning in the

foundations of the All [multiverse orcosmos]. But there is a Light that

swells hidden in Silence and it wasthe first to come forth...I alone amthe Word, ineffable, incorruptible,

immeasurable, inconceivable. It (theWord?) is a hidden Light ... beingunreproducible, an immeasurable

Light, the source of All...It is


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foundation that supports everymovement of the Aeons that belong

to the mighty glory. It is the founding

of every foundation. It is the breathof the powers. It is the eye of the

three permanence's, which exist as aVoice by virtue of a Thought. And itis a Word by virtue of the Sound ... I

(the Word) became a foundation forthe All..." (Trimorphic Protennoina,

Nag Hammadi Library)

More selections from Gnostic texts:

"I am a Voice speaking softly.I exist from the first.

I dwell within the silence..."(Trimorphic Protennoia)

"I am the silence that isincomprehensible.

I am the Voice whose Sound is


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manifoldand the Word whose appearance is

multiple...

I am the hearing which can beattained by everyone."

(Thunder: Perfect Mind, NagHammadi Library)

"He is the First Father of the All(universe).

He is the First Being.He is the First Source.

He it is whose Voice has penetrated

everywhere.He is the First Sound

whereby the All perceived andunderstood."

(Hymn in the Untitled Text of the

Bruce Codex)

"It is I who am hidden withinRadiant Waters.


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I am the one who gradually put forth(manifested, emanated) the All...

It is I who am laden with the Voice. It

is through me that Gnosis comesforth.

I am perception (enlightenment) andknowledge, uttering a Voice...

I am the real Voice.

I cry out in everyone,and they recognize it (the Voice),

since a seed (of me) dwells in (eachof) them."

(Trimorphic Protennoia, Nag

Hammadi Library)

"It is He to whom the universe hascome; they were silent before Himand have not told of Him, for He is

beyond speech, beyond thought. SoThis is the First Fountain; it is Hewhose Voice has penetrated in every

place -- this is the First Sound


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vibrating until the universe feels andunderstands." (Bruce Codex of

Egypt)

The Five Hebrew-Sounding Names(Panch Naam Mantras) of the Jewish

Sethian Gnostics

Throughout Gnostic literaturenames of specific lights of the

different realms are described:

Armozel of the First region,

Oroiael of the Second,Daveithe of the Third, and

Elethe of the Fourth.The Fifth Aeon, the Divine, is the all-

encompassing Light.

(Andrea Grace Diem, The GnosticMystery)


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Name One: Armoz-el of the firstregion,

Name Two: Oroia-el of the second,

Name Three: Daveithe of the third,Name Fourth: El-ethe of the fourth.The Fifth Aeon and Fifth Name not

revealed:the Divine, Self-Begotten One.

These sacred names, whichcorrespond to five heavenly regions

or planes, are words of power. Byrepeating various names of God

while concentrating in the darkness,the energies of the soul that normallyare scattered and dissipated into the

world of the five senses are gatheredtogether at the Single Eye. With this

Singleness of Vision - concentrationat the Third Eye Center, Light willappear. One will begin to rise abovebody-consciousness and begin the


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interior voyage of spiritual ascension(soul travel) accompanied by the

Radiant Form of the Master.

Trimorphic Protennoia:

"He who possesses the Five Seals ofthese particular names has strippedoff the garments of ignorance [the

material body and subtle bodies:astral, causal, etc...] and put on ashining Light. And nothing will

appear to him that belongs to thePowers of the Archons [rulers of the

lower regions]. Within those of thissort, darkness will dissolve and

ignorance will die. And the thoughtof the creature, which is scattered,

will present a single appearance and

dark Chaos will dissolve and ... untilI reveal myself to all my fellowbrethren, and until I gather together

all my fellow brethren within my


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eternal Kingdom. And I proclaimedto them the ineffable Five Seals in

order that I might abide in them and

they also might abide in me."

HEARING THE MUSIC OF THESPHERES (SOUND CURRENT) IN

SUFI MYSTICISM

"A Sound is vibrating in the whole ofcreation. When you open your inner

ear you will hear a ContinuousSound, which will lead you across all

limitations of mind and matter. MyBeloved is speaking to you all the

time. Alas! you do not hear hisVoice." (Shah Niaz, Sufi Saint)

"The whole world is reverberatingwith Sound. To listen to It thou mustunseal thine inner ears, then shaltthou hear an Unending Music, and


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that shall lead thee beyond theconfines of death." (Shah Niaz)

The Mysticism of Sound by HazratInayat Khan is an amazing bookpresenting the Sufi teachings on

inner Sound. Hazrat Khan onhearing the Mystic-Sound:

"Abstract Sound is called Saut-eSarmad by the Sufis; all space is

filled with it. The vibrations of thisSound are too fine to be either

audible or visible to the material eyesor ears, since it is even difficult for

the eyes to see the form and color ofthe ethereal vibrations on the

external plane. It was the Saut-e

Sarmad, the Sound of the abstractplane, which Muhammad heard inthe cave of Ghar-e Hira when he

became lost in his divine Ideal. The


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Qur'an refers to this Sound in thewords, 'Be! and all became.' Moses

heard this very Sound on Mount

Sinai, when in communion with God;and the same Word was audible to

Christ when absorbed in hisHeavenly Father in the wilderness.Shiva heard the same Anhad Nada

during his Samadhi [deepmeditation] in the cave of the

Himalayas. The flute of Krishna issymbolic of the same Sound. This

Sound is the source of all revelation

to the Masters, to whom it is revealedfrom within; it is because of this that

they know and teach one and thesame truth." (The Sufi Message

Series, II)

"The person, who is in tune with theuniverse, becomes like a radio

receiver through which the Voice of


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real Master and also by his studentswho have advanced even a little onthe Path." (Julian P. Johnson, Path

of the Masters)

"The subject of Shabd (Inner Sound,The Music of the Creator) is suchthat we cannot do justice to it by

discursive reasoning. All that can besaid is that 'Shabd' implies the Power

of God that has created and issustaining the various granddivisions, divisions and sub-

divisions of the vast creation of God.It is a current from the Ocean of

Consciousness and is characterizedby Sound-vibration, or in other

words, It is a live and active principle

which, emanating from God, isenlivening all creation. It is theinstrument with which God creates,

controls and sustains His vast


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universe. It acts as a life-linebetween the Creator and His

creation and serves as a golden

bridge between the two. The divinecurrents, like the ethereal waves of a

radio, are spread out in theatmosphere in all the directions ofthe compass, giving out delectable

strains of music. We, however,cannot catch the ethereal vibrationsand listen to the divine melody untilwe get in tune with the Infinite by

adjusting our mental apparatus.

Therefore we become etherealizedmore and more as we come in tunewith the heavenly music. Shabd is

the connecting link between God andman." (Sant Kirpal Singh, Ruhani

Satsang USA website)

"The vibrations of this Sound are toofine to be either audible or visible to


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the material eyes or ears..." (HazratKhan) Yet, as Masters and mystics

often point out, there is another kind

of hearing and another kind ofseeing. The eyes and ears of the soul

-- the spiritual senses -- can bedeveloped. There is Light coming

from beyond the darkness, and there

is Music coming from beyond thesilence, for those who have ears to

hear -- those who desire to meditateand discover the wonders of inner

space for themselves.

"My Master has taught me a lesson:It repeats itself-without me repeating

it.When I plug my ears with my fingers,

Without learning, I hear itsmelodies.My eyes are longing for a glimpse of

him:


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Without seeing, I see his radiantface.

In every heart abides the Beloved, O

Bahu,In countless forms he reveals himself

to me."(Hazrat Sultan BaHU, Sufi poetry

website)

"Rise above thy mental horizon, 0brave soul, and listen to the call ofMusic coming from above." (Rumi)

"Bring the sky beneath your feet andlisten to Celestial Music

everywhere." (Rumi)

INNER SOUND MEDITATION

(NADA YOGA) IN JAINISM,SIKHISM, HINDUISM, AND THESURAT SHABD YOGA TRADITIONS

OF INDIA


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"What does one hear with theseears? It is a sweet Sound. ... Closing

my eyes, as if I were united with God,

I was away from this world. Only myPeace incarnate and dispassionateLord (Mahavira) and I existed [egoand worldly concerns had vanished

in the state of complete tranquility]."

(Shri Jinendravarni, Jainism)

THE UNSTRUCK MELODY OF THESOUND CURRENT (ANHAD SHABD)

IN THE SIKH SCRIPTURES

1. (Within me) rings the unstruckMelody of the Lord's flute, yea, He in

whose presence one's mind isattuned to the sound (of the inner

music). (Sri Rag, Kabir)

2. Seated in my higher mind, I live incommunion with God and within me


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rings ever the unstruck Music (ofBliss). (Sri Rag Var, Shloka M. 3)

3. He, the Lord, is immersed in theunstruck Melody of the Word. (Asa,

M. 1)

4. He, our God, is the King of the

whole Universe, and there (in HisPresence) rings the unstruck Melody(of Bliss). (Sorath M. 5, Chaupadas)

5. The Lord's Name has no form, no

sigh, and it becomes manifestthrough the Immaculate Lord as the

unstruck Melody. (Asa M. 1)

6. In the cave of equipoise do I now

have my seat, and the luminous Selfof God has burst into me as theunstruck Melody. (Asa M. 5)


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7. At the (tenth) door rings theunstruck Melody. The Lord echoesthus in every heart. (Vadhans M. 5)

8. Now I've closed all the nine Doors[of the senses], and (at the Tenth)

now rings the unstruck Melody.(Sorath, Kabir)

9. The Mind is Filled with the DivineMusic of the Spheres

"The Lord placed the soul in the

body's cave,And the breath held the Music of

Life.He made each body with nine gates*,With the Tenth Gate**; remaining

well hid.And the Tenth Door was opened tohim

Who truly loved the Guru's wisdom.


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And there lives the Lord in Hismyriad forms,

as well as the nine treasures of the

Name.His limit cannot be found.

"Says Nanak, the Lord placed thesoul in the

body's cave and the breath held theMusic of Life.

"Listen to this Song of Bliss, youblessed ones,

And all your heart's longings shall befulfilled.

You will reach the TranscendentLord, and

your sorrows will depart.

All afflictions and sorrows aredestroyedat the Sound of the True Word,

And my friends, the saints were in


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ecstasy whenthe perfect Guru revealed it.

Those who speak and those who

listen are pure,And they see the All-pervading Lord

everywhere.Nanak prays: Attaching to the feet of

the Guru,

The mind is filled with the divineMusic of the Spheres."

(Guru Amar Das, in, Anand Sahib --Adi Granth/Shri Guru Granth Sahib)

(Notes: *"nine gates": The ninevisible orifices of the body. ** "TheTenth Gate": The Tenth, or Hidden,Gate of the body: The Third Eye, in

essence, is the Portal to inner

realms. The Upanishads describe ahuman being as a city with ten gates.Nine gates (eyes, nostrils, ears,

mouth, urethra, anus) lead to the


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outside world. The Tenth Gate, theThird Eye, opens onto inner worlds:

the whole spectrum of levels of

consciousness.)

HINDUISM, A RELIGION OFDIVINE LIGHT AND SOUND

Hinduism is very much a religion ofdivine Light and Sound; many Indian

scriptures and spiritual traditionsteach about the universe being

created through the Sound of AUM,

the ecstasy of hearing the cosmicflute of Krishna, or hearing the

unstruck Melody (Anhad Shabad) ofGod that reverberates throughout

the universe. Yogis of Nada Yoga and

Masters of Shabd Yoga Meditationimpart to their students knowledgeabout developing their inner

spiritual sense of transcendental


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hearing.

"Our physical and astral bodies, our

Indriyas and the mind, all haveSound as their basis. As we penetrate

deep into them they only lead us toSound. As we analyze our individualexistence, it takes us to Sound before

we reach the transcendent Self." (SriSwami Sivananda)

"By one who is desirous of attainingperfection in Yoga, Nada alone has

got to be closely heard (meditatedupon), having abandoned all

thoughts and with a calm mind."(Sankaracharya, "Yoga-taravali,"

quoted in Nada Yoga by Sri Swami

Sivananda, The Divine Life Society)

"The yogi should sit the Sidh Asana[posture], and while practicing the


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Vaisnavi Mudra, should hear thesound through his right ear. By

communion with the Word, he will

become deaf to the external sounds,and will attain the Turya Pad or a

state of equipoise within a fortnight.First the murmuring sounds

resembling those of the waves of the

ocean, the fall of rain and therunning rivulets and the Bheri will

be heard intermingled with thesounds of bell and conch..." (Nada

Bind Upanishad)

The following is from the NadaBindu Upanishad, on the practice of

Nada Yoga (Inner Sound)meditation. It's from Thirty Minor

Upanishads -- Including the YogaUpanishads, K. NarayanasvamiAiyar, Santarasa Publications.

("Minor" as opposed to the twelve


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"major" Upanishads, which are mostwidely translated: Mandukya, Isa,

Katha, Chandogya, etc. There are 108

Upanishads in all.)

"The Upanishads represent for theHindu approximately what the New

Testament represents for the

Christian. The earliest of thesespiritual treatises, which vary greatlyin length, were put down in Sanskrit

between 800 and 400 B.C." (TheUpanishads, Penguin Classics)

Nada Bindu Upanishad: "The yoginbeing in the siddhasana (posture)

and practicing the vaishnavi-mudra,should always hear the internal

sound through the right ear.

"The sound which he thus practicesmakes him deaf to all external


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sounds. Having overcome allobstacles, he enters the turya state

within fifteen days.

"In the beginning of his practice, hehears many loud sounds. They

gradually increase in pitch and areheard more and more subtly. At first,

the sounds are like those proceedingfrom the ocean, clouds, kettle-drum,and cataracts: in the middle (stage)those proceeding from mardala (a

musical instrument), bell, and horn.

"At the last stage, those proceedingfrom tinkling bells, flute, vina (a

musical instrument), and bees. Thushe hears many such sounds more

and more subtle.

"When he comes to that stage whenthe sound of the great kettle-drum is


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being heard, he should try todistinguish only sounds more and

more subtle.

"He may change his concentrationfrom the gross sound to the subtle,or from the subtle to the gross, buthe should not allow his mind to be

diverted from them towards others.

"The mind having at firstconcentrated itself on anyone soundfixes firmly to that and is absorbed in

it.

"It (the mind) becoming insensibleto the external impressions, becomes

one with the sound as milk with

water, and then becomes rapidlyabsorbed in chidakas (the akaswhere Chit prevails).


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"Being indifferent towards allobjects, the yogi having controlledhis passions, should by continual

practice concentrate his attentionupon the sound which destroys the

mind.

"Having abandoned all thoughts and

being freed from all actions, heshould always concentrate his

attention on the sound, and (then)his chitta becomes absorbed in it.

"Just as the bee drinking the honey(alone) does not care for the odor, sothe chitta, which is always absorbed

in the sound, does not long forsensual objects, as it is bound by the

sweet smell of nada and hasabandoned its flitting nature.

"The serpent chitta through listening


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the nada is entirely absorbed in it,and becoming unconscious of

everything concentrates itself on the

sound.

"The sound serves the purpose of asharp goad to control the maddenedelephant -- chitta, which roves in the

pleasure-garden of the sensualobjects.

"It serves the purpose of a snare forbinding the deer-chitta. It also serves

the purpose of a shore to the oceanwaves of chitta. The sound

proceeding from Pranava which isBrahman is of the nature of

effulgence; the mind becomes

absorbed in it; that is the supremeseat of Vishnu.

"The sound exists till there is the


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akasic conception (akasa-sankalpa).Beyond this, is the ashabda

soundless Para-brahman which is

Paramatma."

A good example of Nada (Sound)Meditation practice is found in, TheShambhala Guide To Yoga, George

Feuerstein, Shambala Books:

"First, the practitioner should blockhis or her ears with the fingers and

focus inwardly, listening for the

arising of the inner Sound. To beginwith, a variety of sounds may be

heard - the practitioner may hearssounds like: the sound of the ocean,a rain cloud, a drum, a kettledrum, a

conch, a bell [ringing sound], a horn,a flute, a lute, or a bee [hummingsound]."


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The Nada Bindu Upanishad alsomentions the possibility of hearing a

sound that resembles the Vina, a

somewhat sitar-like instrument usedin Indian classical music.

These mystic or heavenly innersounds are always resounding in the

soul, thus when one attains a certainlevel of stillness and concentration,spiritual Sound becomes audible. In

truth, the inner Sound is alwaysthere, it is our attention which comes

and goes. We gain awareness of theSound, and this creates the illusionthat the Sound has "arrived." Whenwe get distracted or leave off ourmeditation practice it seems to us

that the Sound has "stopped."However, this otherworldly Soundcontinues, like radio waves flowing

through the atmosphere, available to


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be "tuned in" anytime we want tolisten (do bhajan: listen to the inner

Sound in meditation).

SANT MAT -- LIVING GNOSIS NOW

Ancient Schools of Spiritualityincluding: Sant Mat, Kabbalah,

Mandaean Gnosis, Sufism, andothers, see themselves as preserving

a kind of "Perennial Philosophy ofthe Ages". Some see a line of Mastersand Mystics, the keepers of spiritual

Knowledge, as existing throughoutall of recorded history. Some of these

great souls include: Seth, Enoch,Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, the EsseneTeacher of Righteousness, John the

Baptist, Yeshua, Valentinus, SaintIsaac the Syrian, Rabia of Basra,Rumi, Hafiz, Namdev, Kabir, GuruNanak, Tukarama, Mirabai, Dadu,


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Dariya Sahib, Tulsi Sahib, Swami JiMaharaj, Maharshi Mehi, and othersright up to the present time. If there

were true Masters in the past, there'sno reason why there wouldn't

continue to be genuine Masters inthe world today.

The Sant Mat tradition, also knownas the Path of the Masters, very much

sees itself as a modern-daycontinuation of the Teachings of theSaints of old, with living lineages or

apostolic successions of Mastersright up to the present time. The

author Julian P. Johnson in, With aGreat Master in India, says: "The

Teaching of the Saints [which is what

the term 'Sant Mat' means] has beenone and the same system since thefirst Saint ever set foot upon thisplanet. ... It is a science [method]


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based upon natural law and personalexperience. The Creator Himself is

its author and founder."

According to the Masters of the Eastthe 'electricity' or 'energy' of theGodhead that flows through all

creation, and that's present within

every living thing, is called 'theShabd.' Shabd or Shabda is a termfor the Inner Light and Sound of

God, sometimes referred to as 'theAudible Life Stream.' This Current

can be seen as well as heard. This isthe Sound of God if we did but knowit, and is the Light of Eternity if we

could only recognize it withinourselves. Surat Shabd Yoga, the

spiritual practice of Sant Mat,literally means: "the attention-faculty of the soul (Surat) becomingone (yoked/yoga, or in union) with


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the Inner Light and Sound Current(Shabda) of God." The inner Light-Sound Stream can be encountered

during the silence of contemplativemeditation when we directly openourselves up to IT. Here's a list ofother mystic-terms for this sameimminent Power of the Godhead

used in various world religions andlanguages: the Sound Current, Holy

Stream of Light, Ein Sof, Vadan,Holy Stream of Sound, Holy Spirit,Word, Logos, Christ (as in, "In the

beginning was the Word..." Gospel ofJohn, and, "Who else is Christ butthe Sound of God." Acts of John),

Saunt-e Sarmad, Tao, Music of theSpheres, Nada, Ek Ong Kaar,

Hoooooooo, Ism-i-Azam, the Voiceof the Silence, the Lost Chord, Davar,Memra, Anhad Shabd, Song of the

Creator, Naam, Bani, Kalam-i-llahi,


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Shechinah, Kalma, Dhun, Sultan-ul-Azkar.

The author Peter Fripp in, TheMystic Philosophy of Sant Mat,describes listening to the inner

Sound during meditation practice:

"The Music of the Shabd is distantand unsteady when first heard, but

as it deepens, it lifts the listeners intoa hitherto unknown peace. ... The

Sound of the Shabd is like a constant

theme with variations on all levels[planes or heavens]. These

variations are described as therushing of a mighty wind, the soundof a lute, the deep resonance of a bell

or conch, or the tinkling of glass inthe wind. There are also wonderfullights and radiance to accompany the

sounds...The sounds and lights


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progress in a definite order,corresponding to each stage of thejourney inwards, and they clearly

indicate the disciple's progress."

Four Kinds of Drshti (Vision)

"Jagrat-Drshti (vision of waking

state), Svapana-Drshti (the vision ofdreaming state), Manas-Drshti

(mental vision) and Divya-Drshti(Divine Vision). When the first threetypes of vision are concentrated, the

mind becomes focused and thedivine vision dawns. If one-

pointedness is held in the divinevision, mind will move notably

higher and grasp subtler and subtler

sounds eventually merging with theSound.

"Upon merging the mind with the


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Sound, there remains only theconsciousness, free of the

association with the mind. The

consciousness free of the mind willbe drawn to the flow of sounds,

ultimately merging in Soundlessnessor the Supreme Sovereign God. Theinternal practice of meditation ends

here: the Supreme God is realizedand the work is completed."

(Maharshi Mehi, Philosophy ofLiberation)

Some have even described this formof meditation as "a conscious near-death experience," that is to say, theHoly Stream of Sound can transportsouls to higher states of being that

may for some resemble NDE's orOOBE's (out of body experiences,soul travel). This is not a 'do-it-

yourself spirituality' in the sense that


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one needs the guidance of acompetent living Master in order to

practice the meditation correctly in a

healthy and balanced way. Oneshould never attempt to climb the

Himalayas without a Sherpa guide;in the same way one should not

attempt meditation to this degree

without the sound wisdom andspiritual direction of a living Guide.In the Shabd Yoga tradition of India

the methods of practice arecommunicated at the time of

Initiation by a Master. This is freelygiven -- no money is involved. A

Living Teacher, being fullyacquainted with the 'landscape' of

inner space, is able to impart to

initiates valuable guidance on how tosafely make the journey of ascensionto the spiritual worlds during

meditation practice inside. The


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complete details of Shabd meditationpractice are not found in books and

aren't for sale, but are given to

seekers by a living Master at the timeof Initiation.

A Mystic by the name of YoganiMataji said of Shabd Meditation:

"...Consciousness can be releasedfrom the mortal frame by attaching

itself to the Stream of Celestial Musicradiating from the top of the head

and beyond. To do this..., one firstmust be initiated by a genuine mysticwho has gained access to the higher

realms. ... Keeping the back erectand the mind alert, one continuously

repeats God's name as given byhis/her guru. This simran [mentalrepetition of a Name of God], asMataji termed it, should be done


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with one's attention centered behindclosed eyes. Coupled with this

physical stillness and ceaseless

repetition of God's Name [step one inmeditation], the next step is to

contemplate the Light within. Atfirst, Mataji pointed out, there will

be only darkness but eventually Light

will appear in the form of eithersmall flashes or small star-like

points. In any case, one should focuson the radiance, keeping one's

simran [repeating God's Name or

Names in meditation] intact andallowing the Light to draw the soul

inward. The third and mostimportant step, Mataji said, is to

listen to the Sound that issues forth

from the Light. It is this InternalMusic which will numb the body andallow the consciousness to leave its

ordinary dwelling. By riding this


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Current of Light and Sound, like afish going upstream,the soul will beable to go back to its original Home.

On the journey within, however, thesoul must be guided by a True Masterso as not to be detained in any of thelower illusory regions. According to

Mataji, what near-death patients

experience is only the beginning of avast sojourn into great universes ofLight, Love and Beauty." (Enchanted

Land, edited by David Lane, MSACPhilosophy Group)

COUPLETS ON INNER SOUND ANDLIGHT MEDITATION BY SWAMI

SANT SEVI JI MAHARAJ, SANT MATTRADITION

"Begin meditation with internallychanting or repeating the Guru-

mantra (the charged words given by


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the Master).

"And then try to visualize the radiant

form or image of the Satguru in thestill darkness of the inner sky (with

eyes closed).

"Follow that with focusing your

attention at the seat of the soulwithin, i.e. at the Third Eye or the

Inner Eye or the Til Dwaar, bymaking the two streams of

consciousness in your two eyes

converge in a Point.

"When the two currents ofconsciousness meet in a Point,

Divine Light appears within.

"Then, practice Surat Shabd Yoga(Yoga of Divine Sound) i.e., try toshift your attention to listening to


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the Divine Sounds or myriads ofmelodies (Anahad Naad) ringing

inside. Listening to the Divine Sound

destroys all the perversions,agitations and fickleness of the mind.

"Ascending beyond or transcendingmyriads of sounds, try to identify

and tune in to the QuintessentialUnstruck Melody, called "Saar

Shabd" or "Anaahat Naad" whichalone is capable of taking you andmerging you into oneness with the

Supreme Lord; this is the ultimatedeliverance or liberation."

"The tenth gate [third eye/third ear]is the gathering point of

consciousness. Therein lies the pathfor our return. The tenth gate is alsoknown as the sixth chakra, the third

eye, bindu, the center located


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between the two eyebrows. This isthe gateway through which we leave

the gates of the sense organs and

enter in the divine realms and finallybecome established in the soul. We

travel back from the Realm ofDarkness to the Realm of Light, from

the Light to the Divine Sound, and

from the Realm of Sound to theSoundless State. This is called

turning back to the Source. This iswhat dharma or religion reallyintends to teach us. This is the

essence of dharma." (Swami SantSevi Ji Maharaj, Harmony Of All

Religions) ////////


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the yoga of sound -- exploring sound meditation (auditory mysticism, surat shabd yoga) in the sacred...

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