Nada-Brahman

Shabda (or Nada-Brahman) is a spiritual musical sound that can be heard during yogic meditation and is believed to have a spiritually transformative power.

This belief in the spiritual nature of both the inner spiritual sounds of meditation and physical outer sounds of mantra and chanting (shabda is associated with both) is a common one throughout India today. Both kinds of sounds have a special power for the spiritual traveller.

The emphasis on inner spiritual sounds or a "current of sound" is seen especially in the Sikh and Radha Soami traditions in the Punjab, and was a common theme in the poetry of a popular medieval saint named Kabir who was born in Varanasi in the fifteenth century. Kabir is highly respected by these groups and his poetry has been elevated to scripture by being included in their holy books.

Unfortunately, it is taboo in many of these traditions to speak or write about personal religious experience. It is therefore difficult to find autobiographical examples of this kind of religious experience except indirectly in the poetry of various saints from northwest India.

The view that the universe contains waves or currents that can be perceived as sound which move between the two poles of existence is a common theme in the Shabda Yoga traditions. The first pole is in the higher spiritual planes of being where the templates for all life forms and the templates that define the basic order of the material world are said to exist. The second and opposite pole is manifestation, and the physical world as we normally perceive it.

These traditions claim that on one hand there is a flow of creative energy or spirit issuing from the first pole that is responsible for the material order and evolution we see around us. The consciousness present in life forms is said to depend on this outward expanding spiritual flow. In this world view, the universe is being constantly created or recreated, and refreshed or renewed by this outward flow.

On the other hand there is also said to be a returning flow which reverses creation, and draws or carries the traveler back from the second pole or material world to his or her origins in the spiritual realms. The salient point of this discussion lies in the fact that the spiritual traveler who can perceive these returning currents of sound can learn to catch the returning wave, and ride it back to higher planes of being. This is the reason for our interest in these sound currents. They serve both as the mechanism of travel, and a compass orienting the traveler pointing the way through the psychic planes and into the spiritual planes.

The ability to tune the soul to perceive the sounds of Shabda must come first, and the ability to catch them, and metaphorically ride them is a more advanced stage. The advanced stage involves transitioning from immersion in a single "lower" sound associated with a psychic state represented by, for instance, the sound of drums or thunder to the higher sounds of flutes, violins, or vinas which are associated with different heavenly or spiritual worlds.

Developing one's spiritual hearing is a process that takes time and effort, and is a worthy goal on the spiritual path. It is also a skill that is sometimes ignored or overlooked. The spiritual traveller needs to take a special interest in this form of spiritual development to truly understand the kind of freedom and knowledge that spiritual travel can offer.