Sound: a passage to feeling

Amrit Sadhana

In this environment full of noise polution and artificially produced eletronic sounds we have forgotten the value of natural sounds which can be used as a direct passage to deep feelings and to the silent spaces of the heart. Natural sounds have a calming effect on the mind, the nervous system and the body. Any sound uttered with feeling can lead one to the silent harmony of the heart.

Recently I came across a wonderful sutra, a meditation technique from The Book of Secrets, the ancient treatise of Tantra.

The technique goes like this: Intone a sound audibly and then less and less audibly as feeling deepens into this silent harmony.

It may sound like a scientific formula, difficult to solve. It indeed is a formula. And it needs an enlightened one like Osho to unravel the mystery of this ambiguous sutra. You will come to know the secret if you practise it.

There are some sounds we have a feeling for. For instance the names of our loved ones, or a certain art-form, maybe our birthplace or our mother tounge. When we utter these names which are essentially sounds a deep feeling of love, pride, gratitude or joy wells up. These feelings stem from the heart. Normally we are not aware of them while uttering the sound hence we don't separate the sound from the feeling. But Tantra shows us the way of intoning the sound, and by repeating it continuously we can intensify the feeling hidden in the sound.

Osho gives the clue: " Intone one sound. Go on intoning it, first audibly so that you can hear it, and then by and by, inaudibly. No one else can hear it then, but you can hear it inside. Make it more quiet, make it less and less audible, and then suddenly drop it. There will be silence, an explosion of silence -- but feeling will be there. Now there will be no thought, but simply feeling will be there."

In this way the name you love becomes a mantra. Even your own name can become your mantra. This sound can be used as a passage toward feeling. The mind cannot reach the heart directly, it needs a passage. Repeating a sound creates vibrations and these sound vibrations reach the core of the heart.

Go on dropping the audible sound, make it more subtle and you will feel the change. The more sound will drop, the more you will be filled with feeling. It is like peelingoff the skin of a fruit. When sound disappears, only feeling remains. This feeling cannot be named. It is a deep love, but not towards anyone . It is unaddressed. It is the inner sky-- a cloudless, blue presence.