Shabd meditation

I got this by way of  a note from Arran and it is a really clear exposition of just what all the fuss is about in regard to meditation.  This item focuses on the sound current.  Curiously, i have never expereinced the sound current itself.  I have once experienced the full onslaught of the inner Sun which naturally illumunes your spirit body.

I do practise meditation in which i simply vacate the mind and quell input.  This takes time and practise.  You drop to the theta state and experince colors and even abstract imagery of sorts.  My point though is that  by doing all this from time to time the other side has the option to show you and to even instruct you.  They choose when you are ready.

I also expereince contemplaitive meditation and this for most of my life in search of knowledge and insight.  This has been much more impressive.

I started silent meditation on a promise of benefit and it took a long time to get anywhere.  The key is to start and look for like minded types.  If you are meant for great things, then a teaching master will find you.

From one of the rare first letters written by Baba Jaimal Singh—a great mystic Saint of the 19th century, to Baba Sawan Singh (1858-1948), the one who would in time become his renowned spiritual successor. Translated from the original Punjabi, this letter is very significant and deals with the inner practice of meditating on the inner Sound-Current or what is known in the vernacular as Shabad Dhun. Of course, this was in Baba Sawan Singh’s early discipleship and he had not yet progressed very far on the inner journey, but it reveals the great love and devotion between these two great souls and Baba Ji’s detailed guidance in meditation. I have added an explanation of some of the esoteric terms at the end, in parentheses):

“To my own very dear Son Babu Sawan Singh Ji,

“Your letter was received and I was pleased to read it. You have written that you do not hear the Shabd Dhun quite clearly, without the admixture of other sounds. Please do not worry about it. Whenever you listen to the Sound, you should listen to the sound of the big bell. At first it is weak like the fine, shrill sound of the cicada. The sound of the conch, which is deep, will come next (after the big bell)..

“Please have no anxiety about your reaching Sach Khand (the True Home of the soul). This Shabd Dhun with its five-fold aspect, which has been given to you, will one day take you to Sach Khand. Hold onto it because it comes from Sach Khand. It comes only to take up the jivatma or the surat of those who have been initiated by a Sat Guru (a True Master) into the five Shabds.* As the surat (attention) gets cleansed more and more, it will ascend higher and higher. Do not be in a hurry...”

(Explanation of some of the terms of this letter: According to the teachings of the great Masters who have come from times immemorial, and revived five centuries ago by Kabir Sahib of Banaras, Guru Nanak of Punjab and the authentic lineage of successors right down to the present day, there are five great spiritual regions the soul must cross before reaching back to its original Source, known as Sach Khand or as Muqqam-i-Haq by perfected Sufis, and then uniting with the Supreme Being there. 

All five regions are connected by the Shabd, Sound-Current or Audible Life-stream, which is One current but with Five different expressions such as bell, drum, violin, flute, etc, each denoting the particular plane or region along the inner journey, like identifying signposts. The first significant Sound or signpost on the journey that stands out from lower sounds like crickets, chirping, ringing, etc, is the Big Bell sound. Bells in churches and temples are just outer symbols. The Big Bell sound is heard in the astral plane after one transcends physical awareness and the lower chakra system. The Bell is clearly distinguished from lower astral sounds like ringing, buzzing, crickets or chirping. It is the Bell Sound that is referred to in this letter by Baba Ji. This Sound is heard in meditation from the right side of the head and eventually comes from the center and above. It is accompanied by strong Light. As the soul’s consciousness ascends higher to other spiritual planes, one hears more powerful and more melodic Sounds with which no outer music nor pleasures of this physical world can even remotely compare. Perhaps that is why so much emphasis is placed on finding Someone who can initiate and connect an aspiring soul to the lower links of the five-sounded Shabd. Once linked to it, one rides the inner Light and inner Sound onward and upward from plane to plane. Shabd has been described by various Masters with many different names: Naam, Word, Logos, Tao, Music of the Spheres, Bang-i-asmani, etc., the very power that created all worlds; that very Current which becomes audible to the soul of the initiate, which uplifts it from senses, carries it up, up, up and back, thus solving the ancient riddle of existence, of separation, of life, of death and beyond).

Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj was born in 1858 in village Mehmansinghwala, district Ludhiana (Punjab) and was initiated into Surat Shabd Abhyas on the 15th of October 1894 by Sant Baba Jaimal Singh and succeeded him as his spiritual successor in 1903, until his passing on April 2, 1948..