Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00071)

Hey,

I've learned from Perry that he has some experience with the
Radhasoami movement, and know that Netemara is or was a member of one
branch of it. Daniel was the first to recognize that the "Suby Ram"
of the Mahatma letters was in fact Salig Ram, a Radhasoami guru. I
was, AFAIK, the first to recognize that the meditation technique of
the Edgar Cayce Readings was derived from his contact with Bhagat
Singh Thind, a Radhasoami guru who came to the US and established a
following in New York City.

The subject I'd like to raise for discussion is the meditation
technique that involves hearing the music of the spheres (Cayce), aka
the Voice of the Silence (HPB), aka the Sound Current (Radhasoami). 
This is variously described in the literature of the three movements
and the methods of preparing to hear it vary. As does the supposed
ultimate goal-- attunement with the cosmic harmony according to Cayce,
a series of progressive openings to higher planes according to HPB and
Radhasoami (henceforth RS.) RS explicitly, and HPB more implicitly,
also endorse this hearing of the Sound Current/Voice of the Silence as
a method of making contact with Masters. In its most extreme form,
the technique is endorsed by the modern Eckankar movement as a method
of contacting the mythical Eck Masters invented by Paul Twitchell. 
The fact that these are fictional characters does not prevent tens of
thousands of Eckists from meeting them on the "inner planes" using the
Sound Current method. The readiness and ease with which Eckists meet
Fubbi Quantz, Rebazar Tars, et al "on the inner" suggests doubting any
claims RS members or Theosophists make about meeting historical (or
semi-historical, semi-mythical) figures by the same technique.

>From my first experience with the Cayce version of this method, I did
indeed hear the ringing sound described in the readings, and felt
uplifted by it. But after exploring the subject I learned that there
is a baseline level of stimulation of the auditory nerve, and in the
absence of distracting noise everyone who listens carefully will hear
the high pitched tone that is produced when our brain processes this
baseline stimulation. Hence, it's a physical and not a paranormal
phenomenon to hear this.

But is it that simple? Even after having the experience deconstructed
by physiology, I still find it useful in meditation. If one is
focusing on that high-pitched tone, it silences the "inner talking"
Gurdjieff discusses as being a constant distraction from any
transcendence of our mechanical and repetitive consciousness. Even
without imagining it to be the music of the spheres, or the means of
traveling to see Masters, one can experience this inner sound as a
means of shutting out the sounds and thoughts of everyday reality and
sensing the alternate reality of something normally
invisible/inaudible. Reason enough to make it worthwhile as a
meditation technique.

Two questions, then. How real or imaginary is the Sound Current/Voice
of the Silence/Music of the Spheres as described by
Radhasoami/Theosophy/Cayce respectively? And does this matter in
terms of whether or not it is useful, productive, advisable as a
meditation technique?

Paul Johnson