In the Beginning was the Word

[Guest guest]

Dear Holy Family,

 

OUT OF PURITY AND SILENCE COMES THE WORD OF POWER. I capitalized that

short sentence by Swami Vivekananda because it has always seemed to me

to have the quality of a mahavakya, and to be particularly apt for

those who involve themselves in any way with the Word, i.e. either

religious speech or writing, or spiritual singing or chanting.

 

I've asked myself over the years, "how do such manifestations of one's

own vakyam-words or speech-spoken or sung, become penetrating enough

to reach the Reality, the Spirit; or pure enough to convey the truth

of the Spirit?" And I am led by the great teachers and scriptures to

conclude that if a word, sound, or tone is to carry the Truth, or to

fly like an arrow to embed itself in the Spirit, its essence must

first have been dipped into, and then risen out of, the inscrutable

Silence and Purity of God.

 

Therefore, it strikes me that the essential ingredient that makes

speech, song, chanting, or prayer come to life is not mere emotion, or

mere asana, or mere pranayama, or mere formulas of syllables or

worship articles, but it is the deep and profound Silence of mind and

ego, which allows one to touch, for an instant at least, that Reality

from which the original Word issued forth---in the beginning.

 

Someone asked quite a while back, "how is true worship like a sword?"

It seems to me that just as the iron of a sword-to-be must first be

heated in the fire, and then plunged into cold water in order to bring

out the temper, the strength to cut through all obstacles, so too the

true worshipper must first be heated in the fire of tapas, and then

plunge into the cool depths of the Silence in order to effectively

weild that sword of worship.

 

Soon after the Kali temple at Dakshineshwar was completed, a seeming

madman arrived. He wore one torn shoe and carried a stick in one hand

and a potted mango in the other. After taking his bath in the Ganges,

he stood before the Kali temple and chanted a hymn to the Universal

Mother, and as he chanted, Sri Ramakrishna said, the whole temple

trembled, as it were. The great Master afterward said that the man

was not mad at all, but was in truth a knower of Brahman.

 

The philosopher-sage Shankara wrote in the introduction to his Gita

bhasha that what is natural for a knower of Truth becomes a sadhana or

a practice for one who aspires to that blissful state. While speaking,

singing, or chanting, one way to so practice is to be equally

attentive to the Silence between the tones.

 

While reading, we hardly ever realize that we are really only reading

every other line. For between each line of print, which of course

represents the words, is a blank line of pure white paper which

represents the Purity and the Silence---and the Beauty---out of which

each Word arises.

 

Respectfully,

 

Tanmaya

[Guest guest]

OM Shanti Om

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, "ty_maa" <ds.james@c...> wrote:

>

>

> Dear Holy Family,

>

> OUT OF PURITY AND SILENCE COMES THE WORD OF POWER. I capitalized

that

> short sentence by Swami Vivekananda because it has always seemed to

me

> to have the quality of a mahavakya, and to be particularly apt for

> those who involve themselves in any way with the Word, i.e. either

> religious speech or writing, or spiritual singing or chanting.

>

> I've asked myself over the years, "how do such manifestations of

one's

> own vakyam-words or speech-spoken or sung, become penetrating enough

> to reach the Reality, the Spirit; or pure enough to convey the truth

> of the Spirit?" And I am led by the great teachers and scriptures

to

> conclude that if a word, sound, or tone is to carry the Truth, or to

> fly like an arrow to embed itself in the Spirit, its essence must

> first have been dipped into, and then risen out of, the inscrutable

> Silence and Purity of God.

>

> Therefore, it strikes me that the essential ingredient that makes

> speech, song, chanting, or prayer come to life is not mere emotion,

or

> mere asana, or mere pranayama, or mere formulas of syllables or

> worship articles, but it is the deep and profound Silence of mind

and

> ego, which allows one to touch, for an instant at least, that

Reality

> from which the original Word issued forth---in the beginning.

>

> Someone asked quite a while back, "how is true worship like a

sword?"

> It seems to me that just as the iron of a sword-to-be must first be

> heated in the fire, and then plunged into cold water in order to

bring

> out the temper, the strength to cut through all obstacles, so too

the

> true worshipper must first be heated in the fire of tapas, and then

> plunge into the cool depths of the Silence in order to effectively

> weild that sword of worship.

>

> Soon after the Kali temple at Dakshineshwar was completed, a seeming

> madman arrived. He wore one torn shoe and carried a stick in one

hand

> and a potted mango in the other. After taking his bath in the

Ganges,

> he stood before the Kali temple and chanted a hymn to the Universal

> Mother, and as he chanted, Sri Ramakrishna said, the whole temple

> trembled, as it were. The great Master afterward said that the man

> was not mad at all, but was in truth a knower of Brahman.

>

> The philosopher-sage Shankara wrote in the introduction to his Gita

> bhasha that what is natural for a knower of Truth becomes a sadhana

or

> a practice for one who aspires to that blissful state. While

speaking,

> singing, or chanting, one way to so practice is to be equally

> attentive to the Silence between the tones.

>

> While reading, we hardly ever realize that we are really only

reading

> every other line. For between each line of print, which of course

> represents the words, is a blank line of pure white paper which

> represents the Purity and the Silence---and the Beauty---out of

which

> each Word arises.

>

> Respectfully,

>

> Tanmaya

>