In Search of the Lost Chord
Michael Turner
© 2009 by Michael Turner
“In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God,
And the Word was God.”
- John 1:1
“Spirit is the golden thread,
so fine as to be invisible,
yet so strong as to be unbreakable,
connecting all beings, in all planes,
in all universes, throughout all time
and beyond time - into eternity.”
- Paul Twitchell
To write of Divine Spirit is a challenge. For It is all that is. It
is the beginning and the end. Several times I have picked up my pen
to write of this wondrous God Force – a nd every time I do, words (and
all form) drop away as I am immersed in Its glory. The ringing
radiance that flows out of the heart of the Supreme One surpasses all
- It is almost beyond comprehension.
The simplest way I know how to put it is: GOD IS! Out of Its heart
flows an audible stream of Life and Divine Love which can be heard as
Sound and seen as Light. From God, It flows to the farthest reaches
of creation, creating and sustaining all of existence. The Great
Shabda Meditation Master, Sawan Singh, expressed this exquisitely when
he wrote:
“The Shabd...is the quintessence of
the Lord and ... (It) sustains millions of universes
and regions. It is the soul-current of
consciousness. It is the Celestial Melody.
It is the life-current which originates from
the Lord and pervades everything. The Lord
creates and sustains the entire universe
through this great Current of Power. It gives
life to the whole of creation and can take
every living being back to his Original Home
or the Lord. The currents of the Lord
pervade everywhere, like radio waves...The
Shabd is the basis of all true religions, for
religion means ‘that which connects us
with the Lord’.”
Kirpal Singh, one of Sawan Singh's successors, reaffirmed this
precept, stating:
“...This Naam or Sat-Naam is, then,
the controlling power of the universe. It is
the great cementing force whereby various
elements, so very divergent in nature, are
held together in the wonderful mosaic of the
many-coloured dome of the universe. It is
the string of life running through the entire
creation, and, thus, the connecting link
between the Creator and His creation.”
And Charan Singh, Sawan Singh’s grandson and another one of his
successors, described the nature of the Shabda beautifully when he
wrote:
“The Word combines both light and sound.
The sound is meant to determine the direction
from which it comes, and the light to enable
us to travel towards it. All religions embody
these two symbols. In the Hindu temples they
use the bell or conch and the lights. In
churches, high above the roof, hangs a bell
and candles are lit inside. The Muslims put
lights on their tombs, and their clergy call
from a minaret to awaken people to the
remembrance of the Lord. These symbols
were meant to serve as reminders to us that
both light and sound are to be met within,
and it is with their help that the inner path
is to be followed and the destination reached.”
From the outer reaches of creation, It (Shabda, Naam, Word) returns
Home to the Supreme Lord. Soul can experience God-realization and
spiritual freedom here and now with the aid of a living spiritual
teacher, who will link it to this stream of Light and Sound, enabling
it to be lifted and carried back to it's True Home: Anami Lok, the
Ocean of Love and Mercy. By learning how to become one with this Life
Stream, one may experience the Kingdom of Heaven while still alive in
the physical body. This is spiritual freedom, liberation from the
eternal cycle of death and rebirth.
What is wonderful about this process is that you can tangibly
experience It. As Darshan Singh, a great Indian Shabda Yoga master
and Kirpal Singh’s son, put it, by using your body as your spiritual
laboratory, you can use meditation exercises to see the Light, hear
the Sound, and rise above body Consciousness. These exercises are
sometimes called the “Science of Spirituality”, “Shabda Meditation” or
“Surat Shabda Yoga”. Surat Shabd Yoga literally union (yoga or
yoking) of the attention of the soul (Surat) with the LightSong of
Eternal Love (Shabda). These exercises offer a means by which we can
confirm for ourselves the reality of this Shabda Current and the
existence of higher levels of awareness, explore higher planes of
existence and directly experience God Itself.
When you practice these exercises, you may see and hear various colors
of Light and tones of Sound. The Light is seen, with the eyes closed,
in the area above and between the eyebrows (the “tisra til” or “third
eye”). The Sound Current is heard with the inner ear. These colors
and sounds correspond to various frequencies of consciousness. Just
as sunlight has different colors when filtered through different
layers of atmosphere (rainbows and sunsets are two good examples), so
too does the pure Voice of God have different colors and sounds when
filtered through the emotional, causal, mental and etheric planes and
states of consciousness.
Shabd Meditation practitioners say that there are five distinct sounds
each coinciding with and activating a particular frequency of
consciousness. These are known as the “Five Holy Names” or “Five
Shabdas”. Initiates of this path are taught these Names as a means of
contacting and transcending their respective states of consciousness.
One of these names is already well known in the West. It is Om, which
is the creative sound of the causal plane. Many consider Om to be the
true Word of God. However, it is simply an offshoot, an attribute of
pure LightSong of the Master Power. It (and the causal plane from
which it emanates) is still a product of the worlds of duality.
Because the beauty of that realm is vastly more radiant than our
earth, because time is far more expanded and the wisdom greater, most
yogis and mystics who have achieved this state (commonly called
“cosmic consciousness”) believe they have reached the ultimate heaven
- and this is what they teach.
But this perspective turns out to be an illusion, another veil of
Maya. One is still subject to time, space, karma and reincarnation.
Only through the eternal LightSong (primordial Word) arising from the
nameless (“Anami”) Region of Divine Love can this be transcended.
Spiritual teachers have expressed this in a variety of ways. Charan
Singh stated:
“What do the saints teach? They tell us to
withdraw our body-consciousness to the
eye focus and there contact the ever-
resounding music of the Word or Logos.
This is the Word that can neither be
written nor read nor spoken. It is the Word
that can be heard without the ears, seen
without the eyes, touched without the hands
and reached without the feet. It is God’s
own voice which is ceaselessly calling us
back home. It emanates from the house of
the Lord and its harmonies resound in all
human beings behind the eyes. When we
attach our attention to it, we travel inward
and upwards and reach its source.”
And Paul Twitchell, one of the pre-eminent students of Charan Singh’s
contemporary, Kirpal Singh, also noted:
“To be one with Spirit means you are within
Spirit, have knowledge of It, and are able to
be possessed by It. This Spirit is what Kirpal
Singh calls the Master Power. You never
accept this Spirit, or power, but It accepts
you. Once you have received It, then you
are able to understand that It has taken you
over. You are then omnipresent, omnipotent,
omniscient – all present, all powerful and
all knowing. Not that you are, but that
Spirit is working through the instrument
of the flesh!”
This is what sets Shabda Meditation – the Way of Divine Spirit - apart
from other systems of yoga, meditation and metaphysics. To rise above
the subtle snares of duality, the seductive traps of Maya, one must
know how to focus the attention inward and tap into the pure singular
essence of Divine Spirit as It emanates from the pure positive God
worlds.
This is one reason for having a living, God-realized teacher. For
unless the guide has explored the higher reaches of pure Spirit, s/he
cannot guide the student there. And while it is possible, as Paul
Twitchell once wrote, to explore the nameless regions without the
benefits of a living guide, having a currently-living God-realized
Satguru will certainly help to streamline the process. The role of
the spiritual teacher was well expressed by Kirpal Singh:
“At the time of Initiation, the Master imparts
His own life impulse. When we remember
Him, He remembers us, with all His heart
and soul. He is not the body. He is the
Word made flesh. To get the full benefit
of the Master Power, the disciple must
develop receptivity.”
While much of the ancient science of spirituality should be learned at
the feet of a living awakened soul, some things can be told to the
casual reader. First and foremost is that, just as there are words
through which the individual can tap into the psychic realms (e.g.,
Om), so too there are words which will harmonize the self with the
pure, positive spiritual vibration.
Chief among these is a name of God which has been practiced by God-
realized mystics and sages since time immemorial. Many Sufis consider
It the Holiest of the Holies, the most sacred Name of the Lord. Long
a closely held secret, handed down by word of mouth from guru to
student, It was brought out into the open in Europe in the 1920’s by
Hazrat Inayat Khan and then to the U.S. by Paul Twitchell in the
1960's. It is the word “Hu”.
Little can be said or written of Hu. It must be experienced by the
individual. One must “be the Hu”. Pronounced “Hoooo” or “Hue”, It is
best practiced in a quiet place, where you won't be disturbed, for a
half-hour or so. Sit upright, close your eyes and gently focus your
attention, without straining, directly ahead of you. Take a few deep
breaths, and then sing It in one drawn-out sound. Do this a few
times, and then be silent. Pay attention to what happens inside.
Notice what you see and hear. After a few minutes, continue singing
Hu, but this time silently, with the “tongue of thought”. Do this
over and over, all the while keeping your attention gently focused
straight ahead, eyes closed. Gradually, you will begin to feel your
spiritual heart open up and golden, divine love pour through. For Hu
is both God’s gift to Soul and Soul’s love song back to God.
With practice, the Hu will coalesce into form, and you will begin to
see flashes of light, followed by an orb of blue, golden or white
light on the inner screen. You will also begin to hear such sounds as
the ocean, a conch shell, drums, the tinkling of bells, the buzzing of
bees, violins, a flute, or a whole spectrum of other sounds.
Do not strain to hear a particular sound or see a particular light.
Just sing Hu with an open, loving heart - be still – and pay
attention. What you will hear and see – in whatever form It takes –
is the LightSong the Word of God, calling you back home.
May the Blessings Be!
Michael Turner
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SFS/
alt.meditation.shabda
Michael Turner
J.D. Campbell
have all things (gunas)....theres no such things as omni words yet the
wrong three things were done in the wrong three place's fascinating mans
destiny and mans ability to claim it...its going to be awhile not enuff
instinct yet.my opinion.your a newer method yet on the right track light
has alot of ability its just been used wrong, so obvious its used wrong
everywhere..its going tobe awhile ....your method involves no pure heart
very early start gotta start somewhere its just understanding without
seeing the end thinking g/d is all the complete omnito human beings as i
dont think so after human beings attempts inthe matter.... jdc