Sant Mat, Surat Shabd Yoga

Sant Mat·Meditation·Sound Yoga

Surat Shabd Yoga
Meditating on the Inner Light and Sound

The Shabd is the transcendent power which is believed to be the creative and sustaining force of the universe. It is also known as the "Audible Life Stream", the "Music of the Spheres", or God, all the religions mention it by different names. In the Bible it is called the Word; "In the beginning there was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."
After initiation by a competent Master in meditation our soul will experience this "Audible Lifeforce", as inner-light and inner-sound and tune itself to it, to God: to become one with God's wil.
Although there are groups which speak of this "Sound Current," all these new movements (e.g., Eckankar) have based their knowledge and writings on Sant Kabir and the succeeding Surat Shabd Yoga Masters.

MEDITATION TECHNIQUE

To practice Sant Mat meditation written instructions are not enough: the first requirement is a competent living Master as meditation is an abstract science of the soul. That when we attend any object with single-minded attention, that becomes meditation. Whom could we attend? The divine power manifesting in the form of light and sound; on that we can meditate. In each religion one finds references to a divine power the divine light and sound. Sant Mat meditation is a process of concentration by which we come in contact with this divine power within.

STEP ONE: Choosing a place and time for Meditation. We can meditate at any time and at any place we wish. Best is to sit in a quiet area free from the noise and away from other activities we should sit in meditation when we are fully awake, so that we will not fall asleep. Choosing a position to meditate, we must first still our body and select a pose that is most comfortable for us we should be relaxed, with no tension in any part of the body.

dimlight STEP TWO: Concentrating, silencing the Thought. Once we have selected a pose we should close our eyes very gently and focus our attention into the middle of what lies before us, at a distance of around eight to ten inches in front of our forehead not puting any strain or tension on the forehead or eyes. It is not the outer eyes with which we concentrate it is the inner eye that sees in front of us. Our gaze should be loving, sweet and penetrating looking straight ahead focusing our attention on a tini spot as on the center of a T.V screen. The mind will interrupt our concentration with thoughts as mind is restless and has many ways to distract us. To attain perfect concentration, we have to reach a state where there are no thoughts. when thoughts arise, whether they be good or bad, they are all bad for us as far as meditation is concerned. To help us bring our attention to the eye focus and still the mind, we repeat the charged Names (simran) given to us by a competent living Master. If the mind is busy in the repetition of these Names, it cannot distract our concentration we repeat the Names mentally with the tongue of thought, not out loud. They are to be repeated slowly, at intervals and not in quick succession, so the gaze is not disturbed.
STEP THREE: Concentrating on the inner light In the Light meditation we experience the light within us and remove the coverings on this light than we know the luminosity within us and we will want to see more and more of it. We should not pay attention to our breathing; the attention collected between and behind the eyebrows at the third-eye center. While concentrating on what lies in front of us, Light will sprout forth we may see lights of any color or flashes of light. We should concentrate in the middle of whatever we see, and continue repeating the Names. We will see various inner vistas, such as inner stars, moon, and sun, or have other experiences. We are to gaze into the middle of whatever we see, and the Light and Sound will guide us beyond the physical into the inner planes.

sound
STEP FOUR: Concentrating on the inner Sound: The second practice of meditation involves the listening to the inner Sound only from the right ear and above and never from the left side. We focus our attention at the seat of the soul and listen to the inner Sound Current our soul is of the same essence as the Sound Current, and is attracted to the divine Melody. The soul travels on the Sound Current through the inner spiritual regions. During this practice the Names are not repeated.

light STEP FIVE: Entering the Inner Region. The inner Light and Sound take us from the physical plane into the astral regions. The physical world which consists predominately of mind, matter, and illusion mixed with a little consciousness is left behind, when we transcend the astral region we enter the causal region, which is more ethereal than the last. Here we shed our astral body and travel in our causal body. Next, we enter the supracausal region where consciousness predominates, and only a small amount of illusion remains. At this stage we recognize that we are soul. Here our soul has the brightness of twelve outer suns. We realize that we are of the same essence as that of the Creator. Ultimately, we reach the spiritual region known as the True Realm from where al creative Power emanates. This is the purely spiritual region of all Light. All the veils covering our soul are removed. Our soul merges in the Ocean of All-consciousness. This is the state we all need to achieve for us to realize the purpose of human life and attain lasting peace and happiness.
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