The Yoga of Sound, Part Two

[Guest guest]

James Bean

jamesbean

 

 

THE YOGA OF SOUND, PART TWO

 

THE PATH OF SOUND IN THE WORLD RELIGIONS

 

By James Bean

 

Being an initiate of the Shabda Yoga/Sant Mat tradition and very much

interested in comparative mysticism & religion, I would like to share with

you some quotes from around the world on clairaudience, the ability to hear

the mystic-Sound, the Song of the Creator, the Voice of the Great Life that

brought all the universes into existence.

 

SACRED MUSIC AS AN ATTEMPT TO IMITATE THE MYSTIC-SOUND

 

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

 

"In the Beginning was.......the Word."

 

Indigenous cultures support the belief that the universe was brought into

existence through sound. The Australian aborigines believe in "songlines,"

meaning the "way of the law," which sang the world, and everything in it,

into existence. Native American traditions speak of the "Song of the

Creator" that created life and sustains the universe.

 

"The Book of the Hopi" (published by Viking Books), the first revelation of

the Hopi's historical and religious world-view of life, contains a beautiful

story of creation. In this genesis account, the song of creation is the

essential Force that brings to life the first humans, "Adam and Eve," if you

will, and the Earth itself is described as a musical instrument. "All the

vibratory centers along the Earth's axis from pole to pole resounded His

Call; the Earth trembled; the universe quivered in tune. Thus He made the

whole world an instrument of sound, and an instrument for carrying messages,

resounding praise to the Creator of all." In this account, it says that it

is our duty, our sacred purpose as human beings to echo this song of

creation back to the Creator again by "making a joyful sound throughout the

land."

 

Chant and sacred music of the world religions can also cause souls to yearn

to hear the Harmony of All Harmonies, to develop a desire to meditate upon

the inner Sound of the Creator that fills the heavens. According to the

Masters of Sant Mat and those who practice this form of meditation, this

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

us Home, if we become one with it. More later on this Yoga of the Word.

 

Sacred music is IMITATING, MIMICKING higher spiritual sounds, bringing some

aspect of the Music of Heaven to the physical world. Tibetan bells and bowls

do this very effectively. The inventor of the Sitar, the most well-known

instrument of Indian classical music, said that it was his attempt to

"capture the music of the Spirit in terms of the physical world." ("The

Pilgrimage of James," George Arnsby Jones, Peacehaven Press) He considered

his attempt "a failure." As beautiful as the sitar is, the Real Sound is

far more glorious than any sound or outer music of this world.

 

Harmonic overtone chanting (the singing of two or more notes at the same

time!) is a vocal technique used in Mongolia, Tuva, Laos, and other Asian

countries. The human voice is transformed into a sonic rainbow of tones and

overtones making the human voice resemble the Music of the Spheres. A few

years back I learned how to do this and it's a wonderful practice, a great

exercise for the human voice.

 

In India, many have verbalized the Sound of the universe as

"AAAAAUUUUUMMMMM," the OM chant. In Tibet, Buddhist monks created an

otherworldly form of chant -- their attempt to reproduce audibly some of the

inner sounds they heard during their meditations. The various Christian,

Sethian (Jewish), Hermetic, and other Gnostic schools of Egypt also devised

forms of chant that they perceived as verbally mimicking/expressing the Real

Name of God that otherwise is hidden in the silence of the soul. They

chanted various combinations of vowels: "I praise You. I call your Name

that is hidden within me: A O EE O EE

OOOOOOOIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

(The Gospel of the Egyptians in: "The Nag Hammadi Library In English," James

M. Robinson, Harper Collins) The Gnostic Gospels are filled with many

examples of chant and Names of God that were used by Egyptian mystics during

meditation practice to explore the Kingdom of the Heavens within, what my

teacher called "the Wonders of Inner Space." These ancient texts provide

many examples of souls ascending in spirit through various heavenly realms

on their way back to "The Eighth," where the Nameless One, the Ocean of Love

and Compassion resides.

 

Whether it's drumming, Russian Orthodox or Coptic chant, or Gregorian

plainchant, an Indian classical raga or bagpipes, for millennia humans have

been echoing various aspects of the Song of Creation. "For in the beginning

of the times so did we all share in the Holy Stream of Sound that gave birth

to all creation." (Essene Gospel of Peace, Volume Four)

________

 

For much of recorded history human beings have reported hearing sound coming

from beyond the silence. In the next installment I'll focus upon inner

mystic-sound in Buddhist, Bahai, and Christians scriptures.

 

"Who else is Christ but the Sound of God?" (Acts of John, Gnostic)

 

 

THE YOGA OF SOUND

copywrite September 1997

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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