The Sound

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was God. And the Word was with God. -John 1:1

I had been in a car accident in Phoenix the first time I noticed a loud ringing in my ear. I thought I was surely dying or that something was seriously wrong. They had to use the Jaws of Life to cut me, my friends in the front seat, and my oldest son, a baby at the time, out of the car, and I thought that this loud ringing meant I had brain damage or worse. It was years later, after a series of spectacular and seemingly random events, that I would be standing with my sweet island friend with long blonde hair at The Highlands who told me, “God’s calling. Pick up the phone.” I first understood that the Sounds I had been hearing since the accident were actually God, Shabd, the Audible Life Stream, or the Word of God from Kathy when I first met Her, and my sweet island friend made it sound matter of fact. It would take years of meditation practice for me to fall more and more in love with That Sound.

This Sound, like ringing bells at first, eventually turns into so many different Sounds as a meditator continues their inner journey. Drums, conch shells, flute, sitar, and so many other Sounds are all part of the mystery of God. And then there is the Roar. Like a hundred jet planes taking off inside of you at once, this Roar is what will cause the soul to leave the body, and is what Paul meant when he wrote, “I die daily.”

During initiation, there is a description given of the different regions and Sounds for each inside, and where to focus, but this Sound, this sweet, sweet Sound, is there for all of us every day if we listen hard enough. It has become my constant companion and has been my Guide inside and outside and can promote so much longing and yearning inside of the soul, to be reunited with It and to merge forever with It. Without this Sound, nothing that is would be and it is God’s constant reminder to all of us of That Everlasting Love and Presence.

Today I turn 60 and as I sit here and write, I am thinking about all that I have to be grateful for and about all of the gifts that I have been given in this life. In fact, I have been in the habit for years of writing 10 things that I am grateful for in the early morning before meditation as part of my journaling practice. The Sound is always second on my list. Kathy is first. Because without either, I would not know the Love and the Peace that I have today most of the time. And without either, I would not know God, nor long to be reunited with God.

Kathy quotes Maharaj Charan Singh, Her Master, in her book, The Living Master, as saying:

We are faced with the problem that if God is within us, why do we not see Him? Saints say that He is within us, but we need a Teacher to guide us and show us the way. The Teacher alone has the key, and He alone can disclose the secret. This secret is the practice of Surat-Shabd Yoga, the method of uniting the soul with the Audible Life Stream, for the Lord manifests Himself within us in the form of Shabd, Nam, or Word. He is Omnipresent and is, therefore, never separated from us; but we can realize or be conscious of this only through the grace of the Master, who connects us with the Word.

The next question to be answered is, what is Shabd, Nam, or the Word? At the outset it may be mentioned that Nam or the Word is of two kinds: Varnatmak and Dhunyatmak. Varnatmak Nam is one which can be read, written or spoken. It is within the bounds of speech. On the other hand, Dhunyatmak Nam cannot be reduced to writing or speech, nor can it be heard with the physical ears. Hazur Maharaj Ji (the Great Master) used to say, ‘It is the Unwritten Law and the Unspoken Language.’

Names given to Him by man, such as ‘God,’ ‘Allah,’ Radha Soami’ and the like, are all Varnatmak and are subject to the limitations of time. The history of all these names can be traced. Many such names have been forgotten and many new ones have taken their place. Many more Saints will arrive in the future and will remember the same One Lord with different names. However, Dhunyatmak Nam is transcendental in character. It is beyond the senses and beyond time and space. This Nam is the Creator of the universe and everything that exists. All creatures, as well as the land, the water, the sun and all the heavenly bodies owe their existence to its Power. Our spoken or written word is only the means, while the unspoken and unwritten Word is the end and object. Names are important until we reach the named One. This Dhunyatmak Nam can be realized through no others save the Saints.

On this day of my birth, I have never been more grateful to have met Kathy and to have been given the gift of Nam. There is no sweeter present and nothing beyond it that I would ever want. I am…grateful. So very, very grateful.

Sending Love,

Kelly