The Sound Of Your Soul

If you've ever sat quietly and noticed the gentle whisper of your own breath...

If you've then listened deeper, finding the soft cadence of your heartbeat...

And if you've then gone even deeper, dropping into the resonant stillness of your innermost being, you might have heard it...

...the subtle, divine sound at the core of existence.

"Beneath the cacophony of life, there exists a sound of unsurpassed sweetness. It is not sound as we know it, not something to be heard as much as something to be felt. It is a vibration," says Swami Chetanananda. "For the most part it takes effort to feel it, simply because the powerful noises that surround us tend to block it out. Yet the individuals who seek depth in their lives will, at some point or other, befriend this sound and begin to explore it." And when you are seduced by this sweet inner sound, you can be comforted in knowing that you join the ranks of mystics and seekers from across the ages who have sought to understand this most essential vibration.

In fact, all of the great spiritual traditions have studied the subtle vibration of sound, each in their own way, for thousands of years.

In the Bible, sound is revealed as the source of all creation, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made."

The ancient sages of India were perhaps the earliest scientists of sound, performing deep investigation into the nature of sound and its relationship to the Self, repeating rigorous meditation practices, and recording their discoveries in elaborate scriptures and texts. From their disciplined observation of the subtlest sound vibrations arose the timeless theory and practice of mantra.

In the mystical sects of Judaism and Hinduism, the sounds of the Hebrew and Sanskrit alphabets (respectively) have been studied in rich detail, each letter representing a powerful sound vibration believed to reflect a unique aspect of the divine, creative intelligence.

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras acknowledged that subtle sounds operate at all levels of the cosmos, "Each celestial body, in fact each and every atom, produces a particular sound on account of its movement, its rhythm or vibration. All these sounds and vibrations form a universal harmony in which each element, while having its own function and character, contributes to the whole."

Through their inner investigation, the sages of India came to realize several profound aspects of sound: 1) Sound (vibration) is the essential nature of the universe, 2) Sound is the basis of individuated consciousness (body, mind, and soul), and 3) Understanding sound is the key to transcending individual identity and realizing the universal Self.

By understanding sound, we can free our consciousness from the illusory perception of the limited, individuated self, and begin to recognize of our eternal, cosmic nature. Over the coming weeks, I hope to write more on these sacred sounds, how they form the essence of the body and mind, and how a deeper understanding can liberate us into a fully awakened state of consciousness.

...it is such a splendid and vibrant internal melody, pulsing and alive with intelligence. If you listen closely, you can almost hear it...but if you feel deeply, you can most certainly sense this sweet chorus vibrating in your soul.

Mothering 6 Billion Children

Following an afternoon of family mayhem and mother's day celebration (which included a lively crew of great-grandmothers, grandmothers, mothers and their various husbands, children and pets), I felt drawn to write a post honoring the universal energy which animates us all - the Divine Mother - who compassionately conceived the 6 billion souls of our human family.

In the eastern traditions, the masculine and feminine energies are understood somewhat differently than the typical strong/weak or aggressive/nurturing polarities we ascribe to the genders in the west.

The masculine is understood as pure consciousness -- inert, motionless, and formless -- the unity principle. The feminine is the creative force -- energy, movement and form -- manifesting the multiplicity of the entire physical universe. The masculine is static and infinite; the feminine dynamic and multi-faceted. They are inseparable, two sides of the same coin.

Out of pure delight, the sacred feminine or Divine Mother creates all things. She is the ecstatic pulsation emanating from "Being," or sacred masculine. Through her cosmic play the entire universe is brought into existence.

As she creates, she unfurls the distinctions of time, space, and form, the limiting factors that spawn the many from the one. She births the individual soul, animating it with the sounds of consciousness and vital life force. She creates the individual mind that experiences the world through sensory perception. And she creates the body, along with all aspects of the physical world, the creatures of the earth, sky and sea, each evolving along a spiral of consciousness.

In her act of creation, the Divine Mother both conceals and reveals ultimate reality. As she reveals the bounty of our world and the myriad beings and objects that color our experience, she conceals the deeper truth - our fundamental oneness with all that is. The sacred feminine births us into individual expression, but also binds us in the illusion of separateness. Her play is a paradox. It is like a game of hide and seek with the Self. She conceals unity through an explosion of diversity, but simultaneously holds the key to awakening back into the One.

Many people live their entire lives bound within the concealing principle. They are completely consumed by the phenomena of the world, never experiencing anything beyond the stimulus of their five senses. Indeed, they even ridicule others who seek a deeper understanding of consciousness, accusing them of pursuing a fantasy of self-aggrandizement or grasping for the false security of something beyond themselves. But sages, saints, mystics and common people across the ages have discovered that the material world is but a fraction of human potential, the smallest sliver of consciousness. Once the Divine Mother reveals even the briefest glimpse of universal reality, piercing the veil for even a moment, she ignites the inexorable impulse to rediscover Being.

The union of sacred masculine and sacred feminine, being and becoming, consciousness and energy, is the essence of awakening as described by many mystical traditions.

The problem, of course, is that we have denied the sacred feminine widely for centuries. In our attempt to control the physical environment (as perceived through our senses), we have favored qualities of the embodied male - aggression, dominance, exploitation, penetration. We have over-developed these tendencies in direct proportion to the depth of our ignorance of higher reality. We are completely absorbed in the concealing factor. We see only that we are separate individuals in a world of separate forms. We are completely fooled.

These historical tactics for controlling the physical sphere will at best accomplish temporary dominion over temporal forms. At worst, they bring widespread suffering, pain and despair. As long as we buy into the charade of separateness, we will experience conflict rather than peace. We will continue to fight, struggle, and wage war within the illusion, a perpetually fruitless endeavor.

In order to free our consciousness to see beyond the veil, we must embrace and re-balance the feminine. She must be given her rightful authority within every evolving soul, male and female. The divine feminine holds the key to our ultimate liberation. She will happily reveal the higher truth to those who earnestly seek her, as she alone can unlock the mystery for us. She is at once our jailor and our liberator, waiting patiently for her 6 billion children to seek their freedom.