The Yoga of Sound (Nadan-u-sandhana)
By Shri Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj,
"The Harmony of All Religions",
from Chapter Seven: "Santmat",
Published by Maharishi Mehi Ashram
The Yoga of Sound is the highest and final practice of Sant Mat. In Sufism this is known as sultan-u-la-jakar. By practicing this form of meditation the practitioner realizes the Supreme Lord and becomes united with the Divine.
When the aspirant practices the Yoga of Light he/she leaves the darkness and enters the realm of light. There the soul begins to hear the numerous divine sounds.
There are five inner realms: gross, Subtle, Causal, Supra-causal and Kevalya. There is a specific sound at the center of each realm. These constitute the five central sounds.
With reference to these sounds Kabir Sahab says:
"The five different kinds of sounds reverberate within,
and thirty six kinds of divine melodies are also found within."
Guru Nanak says:
"There resound five kinds of sound."
Maharishi Mehi Paramhans Ji says:
"Five celestial melodies resound within.
Listen to each of these."
[Note: The sounds to listen for are revealed
at the time of Initiation into the meditation practice.]
In fact the sound possesses a quality that attracts the attention of the listener. Every central sound flows from the highest realm downward to the lower realm and then directly connects to the center of that realm. The aspirant enters the process by attending to the sound of the gross realm, centering, and then following that sound as it leads to the realm above, which is the Subtle realm. Upon reaching the Subtle realm, the sound of the Causal realm is experienced. This sound will eventually draw the practitioner from the Subtle to the Causal realm. And so the aspirant proceeds until reaching the highest realm, progressively catching increasingly subtle and powerful inner sounds in order to proceed to the realm immediately higher.
In the final stages of this practice, the aspirant goes beyond the veil of material creation and reaches the realm of Kevalya. This is where the soul comes to experience the Divine. But even in this realm there is a thin veil, and complete union with the Divine is not yet possible. Upon acquiring the final essential sound in Kevalya, the soul ascends upward to the Absolute Soundless State. There the soul becomes one with the Divine.
