Yoga Of Inner Light And Sound

Author(s): Achyutanand Swami, Praveshkumar Singh
Publisher: Santmat Sangh Samiti Chandrapur

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only. Students are imparted the knowledge of various languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, English etc. at schools, high schools, colleges and universities through words only. Through words alone different nations of the world establish mutual political and trade relationships. So much about the benefits that accrue from physical words! Sages and sants have described the spiritual word or the inner sound to be much more significant.
When God came to have the playful mood (“mauj') to make this creation, a vibration was produced in the beginning along with its companion sound. This sound itself was termed 'ādi nām' ('ādi' means the original, the first or the primeval, and 'nāda' means name, word or sound). This word is present in each & every, even the minutest, particle of the creation. That is why, it is also called the 'sarvavyāpinī dhvani' ('sarvavyāpinī' implies all pervading and
dhvani' means sound). This very sound has been variously referred to by rishis (sages) as Om, Sfota, Udgeeth etc. Subsequently, sants called it Ram nām (name of God), satanām or sattanām (True Name), sārashabda (Quintessential Sound or Word), satashabda (True Word) as well. This sound is perceived by the spiritual seeker in inner meditation to attain to the Supreme Sovereign, the God. The way to meditate upon this word has to be learnt from a true adept, Sadguru (True Guru). That is why, Sant Kabir has said,
"O noble people, meditate upon the Word... because the whole creation has been formed of the word only. It is by listening to the very Word, that becomes manifest to the rarest of rare, that one becomes a Guru and a 'shishya' (disciple). The sublimity of the Guru-shishya relationship becomes established, only after the secrets of the inner journey have been learnt. Holy Scriptures like Vedas & Puranas also offer words only, that is, the knowledge contained therein can be internalized through words only. Deities, hermits and sants also impart knowledge through words only; that word is unfathomable!
It is precisely by listening to word that some of us adopt the life & garb of a sagel ascetic or, conversely, a worldly person. The six schools of philosophy (ancient Indian philosophy had six schools) also talk of words only.
This illusory world and its vast expanse have also come into being through word only. Unique & matchless is that place from where this word originates."
The most venerable Sadguru Maharshi Mehi Paramhans articulates it thus:
"The Supreme Lord is beyond the grasp or perception of our organs, is ineffable, is without either a beginning or an end, and is unborn and the Source of all creation. The very Word that first sprang out of Him came to be variously called 'sfota', fudgeeth', 'brahma nāda', 'shabda brahma', 'praNava dhvani', 'sār shabda', 'Om', dhvanyātmak nām'etc. That sound is beyond all vowels and consonants, not pronounceable, free of all defects, inexpressible and nirgun' attribute-less)".
He writes in one of his poems:
"God is Non-manifest, Beginning-less, Endless, Invincible, Unborn, the First One, Root or Cause (of everything). The first sound, the conscious current that emanated from Him is called sfota