In the beginning was the sound

Mar 3, 2010, 12.00am IST

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti.

In the beginning, there was sound. The manifestation of sound is the subtlest; even more so than light. That is why the karnendriya, the ear, is considered as the subtlest organ.


Acoustic expressions are of two kinds: one is the divine, or spiritual acoustic expression and the other is the physical. The sound you hear is the physical acoustic expression. The ordinary ear does not perceive the vaster spiritual acoustic expression in the divine realm, in the cosmic domain. In the case of the Entity that is free of attributes, Nirguna Brahmn, there is no expression, because nirguna means ''without quality or expression''. Even in the case of Saguna Brahmn, the Entity with attributes, and even starting from Purusottama, the nucleus of human consciousness, there is expression, there is manifestation. And that expression, till it reaches the physical sphere, is spiritual acoustic expression, inaudible to the human ear.

Whenever you think something, you create a mental sound without being aware of it. Thinking is mental speech, after all. You are thinking, ''Oh, my visa will expire on such-and-such day.'' Actually you are speaking mentally. And when you speak physically, others can also hear; when you speak mentally, others may or may not hear you.

Now, one may capture physical sound according to the capacity of one's acoustic organs, one's ears. You cannot catch very short or very long sounds. Similarly, in the inner sphere there are several stages, strata and phases; and when the inner senses develop by dint of sadhana, one will hear that divine sound, that inner sound, the sound of silence. It is what is known as Omkara in Sanskrit; the pranava.

When those inner senses develop, in the first phase spiritual aspirants can hear that inner sound. In the first phase it is like the sound of crickets. In the next phase, it is as if someone is dancing with bells (nupur) around their ankles. Next you will hear the sound of flutes as if someone is playing a flute. Then comes the sound of the ocean. And then, in the fifth phase, it goes tam-tam, like the sound of bells. And finally, the sound is the Omkara in pure form. After that, there is no sound, because the realm of saguna ends, and that of nirguna begins. In the realm of nirguna there cannot be any sound, because there cannot be any manifestation. Not even divine expression, not even supra-psychic expression.

By dint of sadhana, in the last phase you hear the sound of Omkara or the pranava oonnn. In the Vedas it has been said, "pranavatmakam brahmn". It means: "Brahmn is of the same nature as pranava.'' When one can hear that pranava, in the next phase one will come in contact with Nirguna Brahmn. That's why pranava is called pranavatmakam brahmn. Pranava is that entity that helps the sadhaka to come in contact with the Parama Purusa. In Sanskrit, another name for pranava is Shabda Brahmn Brahmn expressed as shabda or sound.

( From the writer's Ananda Vachanamritam)