The Sound and Light of Freedom
Both Light and Sound are within us. The Sound and Light are related to the two faculties of the soul namely Surat (hearing) and Nirat (seeing).
The great mystics have long since told us that realizing our immortal selves is achievable within a single lifetime by practicing the art of dying while living. This ancient art is based upon the concept of a universal soundless sound. In the West, this spiritual vibration is known as the Primordial Sound Current or, more aptly, as the Audible Life Stream because it is the essence of all life, and although inaudible to the physical ears (hence it’s often referred to as soundless) it resounds ceaselessly. Resounding within each and every one of us, the Audible Life Stream is quite simply the Universal Principle, God-Power, Bange-Asmani.
Inevitably, however, using mere words to describe what is ineffable will always prove inadequate. To only see this universal principle as a one-way flowing stream or river is misleading because, as Dr. Julian Johnson explains, there is a two—way current in each wave of the Audible Life Stream, one moving out from the creative source of the Universe and the other that returns.
This wave has two aspects, a centrifugal flow and a centripetal flow. It moves outward from the central dynamo of all creation, and it flows back toward that dynamo. Moving upon that Current, all power and all life …flow outward to the outermost bounds of creation, and again upon it all life (returns) towards its source.
Mystics contend that dying while remaining very much alive is the beginning of this return journey.
While all major religious traditions – both East and West – are founded on the concept of a supreme God or God-like concept, the spiritual vibratory principle of this Universal Force is largely unknown because over the centuries, for various reasons, this quintessential spiritual tenet has been grossly misunderstood. Consequently, the original message of the ancient mystics has been mainly lost and so today most people are completely are unaware of the Audible Life Stram and its spiritual significance, believing that at the time of death one needs only to go to the light. This belief is understandable given the emphasis on the light in spiritual literature. But nevertheless, mystics say this is a tragic mistake. For the light, in fact, emanates from the Audible Life Stream. Being vibratory in nature, the Audible Life Stream, thus, encompasses both light and sound, since both are vibratory in nature, as explained by Hazur Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji:
Both Light and Sound are within us. The Sound and Light are related to the two faculties of the soul namely Surat (hearing) and Nirat (seeing).
Once these two soul powers of hearing and seeing are fully developed, the soul can rise up to the highest spiritual regions beyond the illusion of death. Certainly, light is necessary for illuminating the spiritual path but, say the mystics, the sound is equally necessary to pull the soul in the correct upward direction. They believe that without the magnetic force of sound we cannot ascend through the higher spiritual levels.
The Book of Genesis tells us that ‘….God said, Let there be light…’ this implying the voice of God – the sound of God – PRECEDED the Light. This is why mystics place emphasis on the Audible aspect of the God-power – the Spiritual Life Stream of Consciousness.
Believed to be the most fundamental way that the God-power manifests itself to human consciousness, the Audible Life Stream is considered by mystics to be like a spiritual highway along which all souls will have to travel in order to reach the source of this power. But a far more poetic analogy, used by Hazur Maharaj Baba Sawan Singh Ji to sum up the importance of the Audible Life Stream is to view the Universe as an Ocean of Spirituality.
The Sound Current is a wave of the Ocean of Spirituality of which the soul is a drop. The ocean, waves, and the drops are alike in nature. All three are one. If the soul catches the Current and follows it, it can reach its destination, the ocean – and, by merging itself in the ocean, can itself become the ocean.
So, the Audible Life Stream is believed to be a Universal and inherently non-material vibratory force manifesting as countless sounds and even music, that is said to be infinitely more enchanting than the very best music composed here in the physical world. The type of sound perceived whether it is music or not, depends upon the level of vibrational frequency of one’s consciousness.
In a very real sense, the Audible Life Stream is a cosmic symphony to which all things, seen and unseen, unknowingly dance. Underpinning all physical and spiritual levels of creation; this symphony is endlessly being performed at the very essence of our being, since we are a microcosm of the entire universe. Yet, so few of us are aware of this. Even fewer understand that this sweetest of music can be perceived if we are prepared to truly listen for it. Being beyond the mental constructs of space and time, this harmony, therefore, cannot be apprehended through any physical means because, as has been shown, the brain necessarily filters and sequences our sensory input to create an illusory material perception only. Accordingly, then, such a concept is understandably difficult to comprehend because our ears are the very organs designated by nature to perceive sound.