Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00075)

Hello Paul & All,
It's very interesting to hear of the Edgar Case meditation technique 
on "inner sounds".
I was "initiated" into one of the Radhasoami groups quite some years 
back.
One of the reasons I developed an interest in this tradition was 
because of its mention of the "sound current" or "shabha"

While I was still in the JWs and before having read any esoteric 
philosophy I awoke from sleep one night with an experience 
of "hearing" the sound of something similar to bees buzzing inside my 
head the sound then became more like a state of consciousness and I 
became absorbed into this "sound" it was an ecstatic experience and 
was one aspect of what started my looking into the mystical side of 
things.

When I read about this "sound current" in both Paul Twitchell's 
writings 
(He apparently largely plagiarized some of his works from Julian 
Johnson's book 'Path of the Masters") 
and also Radhasoami books I related to the concept of the 'sound 
current' as I had an experience of this myself before having even 
heard of it.
Later I read of the "sounds" also in Voice of the Silence :

..........................................
"Before thou set'st thy foot upon the ladder's upper rung, the ladder 
of the mystic sounds, thou hast to hear the voice of thy inner GOD in 
seven manners. 
The first is like the nightingale's sweet voice chanting a song of 
parting to its mate. 
The second comes as the sound of a silver cymbal of the Dhyanis, 
awakening the twinkling stars. 
The next is as the plaint melodious of the ocean-sprite imprisoned in 
its shell. 
And this is followed by the chant of Vina. 
The fifth like sound of bamboo-flute shrills in thine ear. 
It changes next into a trumpet-blast. 
The last vibrates like the dull rumbling of a thunder-cloud. 
The seventh swallows all the other sounds. They die, and then are 
heard no more. 
When the six are slain and at the Master's feet are laid, then is the 
pupil merged into the ONE, becomes that ONE and lives therein." 
Voice of the Silence
...........................................................
I have heard an interpretation of these passages that has put another 
angle on what may be being spoken about by HPB in that passage in VOS.
Rather than the "sounds" being taken as literal sounds perhaps they 
can be seen symbolically as well.
As the sounds move from being very quiet sounds to loud sounds in 
HPBs descriptions of them this can also perhaps be relating to 
the "Voice" of the Higher Self or True Conscience becoming loader and 
loader until the lower ego can no longer be heard and finally the 
Voice of Pure Buddhi free of all kama-manasic desire.

Whether these sounds heard on the inner planes are merely in the 
brain is no doubt open to debate as is the case with any mysticical 
or psychic state.
My experience of these inner sounds on the couple of times I've heard 
them are they seem to be a kind of "vehicle" or "state" but very hard 
to describe.
If it is merely in the brain it is beyond anything you experience 
normally in dreams and they are very real while they are happening 
and the after effect for me was a feeling of clarity and deep peace 
in the mind afterwards.
It was very interesting to hear your experience and thoughts Netemara!
Regards

Perry

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "netemara888" <netemara888@y...> 
wrote:
> 
> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "kpauljohnson" 
> <kpauljohnson@y...> wrote:
> > 
> > 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.
> 
> Hey Paul, yes, that's right. I have in a limited manner returned to 
> the RS practices. Why? Because I like to leave things for a while 
to 
> see if they have true spiritual validity. For me at least I've 
> found that it does. 
> 
> Another reason is that I am investigating the "physical" aspects of 
> this spiritual experience in terms of theoretical and experiential 
> physics as explored in the laboratory physical body.
> 
> To that end I've written yet another unpublished and incomplete 
> manuscript, although it has a lot of flesh on its bones. I am 
> beginning to feel like Emily Dickenson and that all my writings 
will 
> be found after I die--just kidding.
> 
> But this Paul is a HUGE question that you raise. I've been 
> meditating for nearly 30 years and only once can I say that I've 
> heard the real bell sound. It is nothing like anything you've ever 
> heard before, it is unlike that white noise that comes with the run 
> of the mill meditation times. Recall that light is produced from 
> sound on the lower levels then it reverses itself on the higher 
> planes. Also this all involves something I just mentioned on 
> TTT "The power of ascension" is gained as one masters meditation.
> 
> I've put a lot of my questions to the "hated" Kabir aka Michael 
> Martin because he does know a lot despite his bad reputation. He 
> advised me that much of what I was experiencing was from the higher 
> planes especiallly the drum or kettle drum sound that is like the 
> rumbling of clouds and is often accompanied by huge clouds which 
> look much like the formation of stars that NASA has now put out.
> 
> ###############
> 
> 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 
> 
> By technique do you mean listening for the sound or the bhajan 
> posture which is as old as man himself? 
> 
> It is a difficult practice to be sure, in that it takes resolve to 
> get and to stay in that posture, the mind resists it terrribly.
> 
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> I think the end is the same although the means may appear to vary.
> 
> What we experience as variations is what I am working on to 
> standardize what is being reported by actual physicists and what 
> meditators report -- I find them to be the exact same experience. I 
> can't give away my premise too much but suffice it to say there is 
a 
> real and same experience base and it is that which occurs when one 
> actually dies or leaves the body both in NDE or the real thing.
> 
> Netemara
> 
> 
> > 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