The Power of Sound

The Universe is Sound, therefore we are sound.

Buddhism posits a Shunya or void. This void is not empty! It the home of sound. First the “big bang” occurred, which is the outpouring of that sound. This sound “translated” into energy, activity, light, and then elephants! (Or humans). Thus if we go back to our roots in Cosmic Consciousness we don’t just live in a nothingness. We also “hear’ or rather are immersed in the Cosmic Sound.

Isn’t this going to be a bit boring? After our life on earth with our collection of toys, pets, progeny and other riches. (Living only in the Cosmic Sound). Well it might be a heavenly type experience, which apparently is not bad. It is also Blissful in the purest sense. Still not sold on this end-of-existence product?

The problem is that it doesn’t particularly matter what you think or believe about the universe. We are destined to go to our final place due to the experience of life, which pushes us into renunciation via suffering. We don’t need though to surrender to our destiny as it will happen anyway. How we accept, and possible embrace it, is much more important. Here as far as my Journey is concerned, it has been about allowing the Cosmic, (or Divine), Sound to be my core Being. This has been greatly assisted by an understanding of why that Sound is the “be all and end all”. It is the experiencing of the Witness State as per the Wheel of Suffering in previous pages. It’s about being in the centre.

Not outside looking at life.

Understanding the Mantra as Cosmic Sound emanation.

Mantra over time

If one takes the time to study this topic in is some depth, one will find that there is a wealth of information and in depth science of the power of a word. Each mantra from the ancient historical past of India has an author – a wise sage. It has a supernatural being that informs that transcendental component. It has an underlying seed form, which is the subtle unconscious power of that sound. The sound itself is allied to a particular energy, (Shakti), which is the unseen vibration of that sound. This is somewhat similar to sound waves which can be heard when channeled through an instrument, (such as a radio). All of these components are held together by an unseen pillar or pin. (Just like the body held upright by the spine).

The mantra however must be awakened through its use by the person using it. So a mantra could be merely supplementary to other spiritual practices, or vice versa. However the mantra can be used as the key practice spiritually and also to achieve any other outcome that is sought. Sound produces forms through its vibrations, and the repetition of a particular mantra brings forth awareness of both the form that is meditated on and the purification that is sought. Logically any person using a mantra would want to use one that is representing a favored deity, or materialistic outcome. The choice of form of one’s Deity or desired outcome, becomes one’s choice of mantra.

The mantra can also be a refuge. Its repetition can allow release or escape from certain difficult mental problems or thoughts, and move the minds focus to a more healthy location. Constant repetition over a long period can enable a shift from a deep-seated negative personal perspective towards the higher planes of light and energy.

The mantra is of course a spiritual word, although you may hear that any word repeated has its own power. Logically, it does not make sense to repeat some obnoxious phrases. For instance whilst eating dinner certain words could provoke unpleasant regurgitation! Logically it makes sense to repeat something sweet, light, and healthy -unless one has a death wish!

Spiritual practices led me to my special place, a Higher Room, from where I am connected with my strengths and resilience, and any recovery needed from enmeshment in Maya.

We need a new word then which encompasses a Self-Realised status, that is spiritual, (and religious if you really need it), but also acknowledges worldly, physical and mental “advanced well-being.” (Not perfection)!

It’s a place where there is a sense of confidence, capability, and ability to resolve life issues as far as realistically possible, and to feel fully developed in spirit also. (Or entrenched in the final stages of the Therapeutic Journey).

It’s a place where all the issues of, Life and the Universe, have been re-identified into the Divine Truth, or Omega, for the human in individual form. With the personality intact! Fears are resolved and individual can sit in their own Divine Space, Higher Power or Room, or Omega.

Technically then what happens is simply the ongoing experiences of life which happen automatically over the course of time, as outcomes of previous actions.

That realistically enlightened individual no longer acts to get, make, achieve, but rather will experience, (the results of past actions). Teaching or service to other may still take place as per ones Inner Deity etc. inspired influence

Its Practical Enlightenment.

Or Realistic Realisation

Now this is a sense of being, simply experiencing life, (as if the train ran out of fuel but keeps on rolling).

Here now I have something that is Truth Unlimited, which is unaffected or swayed by any or all religious type beliefs. It is about oneself as the Divine and about Maya, the illusory and transient suffering filled nature of Life and the Universe. Both the words Divine and Maya refer to human constructs, and we are free to redefine these terms. We can allocate different terminology, as I have propounded her. (Such as Omega)

The non-dual philosophy of Vedanta, though seemingly nihilistic or fatalistic, has given me the means to develop calmness and equipoise, and helped alleviate the ups and downs of life. This then combined with my Theistic approach to surrender to my Deity, is my final perfection.

It’s can be a conundrum, to have a “religious devotion” and a somewhat atheistic philosophy! This Higher Power of one’s chosen deity can however be experienced as an inner process, and taken as a final step towards the ultimate undefined consciousness, where no Gods or Goddesses exist. The purpose of the belief in God etc. then, is to facilitate the surrender process where ego identification is transcended.

I have regained a sense of control over circumstance, which is influenced and self-regulated by my understanding of the workings of Karma, which is all action, and Prarabda, which is the results of past action. I have described in previously books. This means a complex understanding and awareness of both the inevitability of some events and the endless possibility for change. Ultimately total self-responsibility leads away from the known spiritual pathways and into the depths of Inner Enlightenment, attained through a surrender to the Therapeutic Journey to Self-Realisation processes.

I had a feeling of being powerless over my human condition for a seemingly lengthy time, even after my period as a monk.  I believe it gave me eventually a better understanding, and better ability, to be realized at the “lower levels’ levels or mind/body experience. Thus I became: fully in the world and fully in my awareness of Being.