 | Vipassana Meditation: The Sound Current and Vipassana MeditationBy Kiara Windrider
The practice of the “sound current,” also known
as the “divine sound,” is a foundational practice of linking directly with the
soul and I AM Presence. It comes from the Himalayan masters of ancient India,
and is a foundation for the practice of “nada yoga,” “sahaj yoga,” Babaji’s
“kriya yoga,” as well as Sikh practices like “shabda yoga.”
When electricity runs through a power line it
produces a humming sound. Likewise, when higher spiritual energies run through
the circuitry of the human body, there is an interface between the two energy
fields that we can hear within our heads as a current of sound. All creation is
a manifestation of sound, the eternal “OM.” This same sound can be heard and
felt within our own bodies. You might first experience this as a very subtle
tone, so subtle it is almost subliminal. Later, or in deeper states of
meditation, it could become so loud it drowns out everything else in its
vibrancy.
The sound current could be experienced differently, depending on the degree of
one’s inner attunement. You might hear it as a buzzing, or a ringing, or the
sound of waves along the shore. It could be a clear ringing tone or the roar of
thunder. However it is first experienced, as you bring your attention to that
sound it becomes stronger and more coherent, until it eventually merges into
the “music of the spheres,” the primordial sound. The sound current is a very
sweet sensation of subtle sound. In the beginning it might help to cover the
ears, or go someplace where you can be absolutely quiet. As you become more accomplished
with this practice, you hear this tone constantly, and it serves as a
continuous link with the soul.
After some practice you might notice that this
pitch changes as your brain wave rhythms change. It also changes when you are
in the presence of higher vibrational beings like the ascended masters. You can
begin to distinguish the energies of the different masters by the difference in
tone. Likewise, when you are out in nature, taking the time to soak in the
vibrancy of sounds and colors around, you begin to notice changes in the sound
current as you connect with various ele-mental energies and nature spirits. As
you match frequency with another being
through the sound current, you might find that there is a deeper level of
communication that begins to happen.
This same principle also applies to areas within your own body. The state of
cellular health has to do with the frequency to which it vibrates. As we pay
attention to the sound current, it lifts the vibrational frequency of each cell
into greater octaves of health and vibrancy. You begin to communicate with your
cells, and they begin to communicate with you. This is the foundation for
ascension mastery on the physical level.
Most people first experience this tone inside the head, perhaps closer to one
ear or the other. In Shabda Yoga, the sound current is said to usually enter
through the right ear, and practitioners are warned not to go out on the sound
if it came in through the left ear. If it stays in the right ear, practitioners
are encouraged to experience it in the very center of the head. Notice where
you hear this sound current. Over time, you may find that you begin to hear it
through every cell of your body. You begin to observe how it corresponds
with various sensations, until eventually the denser sensations give way to
subtle currents of blissful light.
The practice of vipassana is an ancient Buddhist teaching for experiencing full
body enlightenment through the awareness of sensations. The term “vipassana”
means “insight,” -insight into the truths of impermanence, suffering, and
liberation from suffering through experience of the “no-self.” The Buddha taught that sensations in the body are
the doorway to the deepest levels of the mind, and therefore the deepest
levels of enlightenment. Energy follows attention, and as we bring our
awareness into our body, its vibrational resonance begins to change. We find
over time that what we have experienced as gross matter is teeming with
subatomic currents of light. Eventually we enter into these currents, and
experience ourselves in bodies of light.
We begin by learning to simply experience things for what they are,
without trying to change anything, without trying to repress unpleasant
sensations, without craving for pleasant sensations. As we experience
sensations for what they are, we experience the loosening up of karmic knots
that we have carried in our consciousness for lifetimes. We bring our attention
back and forth through the body, from head to feet and feet to head, all the
while remaining in a state of equanimity. Like the sound current, the practice
of vipassana meditation is deceptively simple, yet capable of leading us to the
highest realms of spiritual experience.
Emotions may come up to be cleared. As that
happens, we simply look to see where we experience those emotions, and
translate them into sensations in the body. It is not important to “process”
these through the mind. The body carries karmic imprints known as “sankaras” or
“miasms.” When these are seen for what they are, without resistance and without
attachment, they simply dissolve. Profound physical and emotional healing is
possible in this manner, as well as deep levels of soul or God-realization.
Please be aware that all the meditations in this section of the book are designed
to take you into deep altered states where unified consciousness can occur. If
you find yourself falling “asleep” in the beginning, know that your submerged
mind is still receiving the energy. Eventually, as the bridge gets made, you
will find yourself able to access your multidimensional self more consciously.
The following narration incorporates the “sound
current” and “vipassana” meditation. For further information on the practice of vipassana meditation retreats
worldwide, please visit www.dhamma.org.
Let yourself listen now to the sounds around you. You are reaching out with all
of your senses as you listen. You are -listening for every sound, the spaces
between the sounds, and -letting the external sounds take you deeper and deeper
into the silence within. Now turn your attention inwards. Listen to the
silence. Listen to the “sound current” within that silence as you let your
breath become slow and subtle. The sound current is a rich subtle tone or hum
that you hear, either subliminally or audibly, in the center of your head. It
is the still, small voice of God within. It is your soul’s link into your
central nervous system. As you open into that silence, feel the gratitude and
joy of just being, of being a part of this great divine plan of creation in
every moment.
Let yourself deepen now into the experience of the sound current……….
And now we will combine the practice of
listening to the sound current with becoming aware of sensations through the
body as part of the practice of vipassana meditation. Bring your attention to
the top of your head and become aware of sensations in your body. It could be
any sensation—it could be vibration, pulsing, or tingling; it could be
throbbing, or a sense of pressure, or even pain. You might experience heat or
coolness, or perhaps subtle energies that feel balanced or even. Or perhaps you
experience numbness or the absence of any feeling. It is not even necessary to
find a name for what you are experiencing. Just experience whatever it is that
you are sensing without trying to change anything. Slowly move your attention
through different parts of your body. From the top of your head, bring your
attention into your forehead and along the temples, along every part of the scalp,
and then the eyes, and deep into the eyeballs. Become aware of sensations and
then simultaneously listen beyond the sensations to the tone, to the sound
current. It’s like a cellular frequency, a cellular vibration.
Gradually moving down to your nose, your
cheeks, out to your ears, down to your mouth, your lips, chin, and jaw. Moving
down the back of the neck, down to the throat, and then moving your attention
from one side of the head through the center of the head, slowly moving through
to the other side and then back. And then from the front of your head slowly
moving through to the back of your head and then once again to the front. As
you bring your attention to every cell within the body, surface as well as
deep, energy follows your attention. Your body is waking up, reclaiming itself,
remembering. Make sure you are experiencing actual physical sensations directly
within the body, rather than something you are only visualizing in your mind’s
eye.
And
now moving from the throat down the shoulders, perhaps one shoulder, one arm at
a time. Become aware of any tightness, any soreness in that shoulder, any
tingling or vibration or pulsing, the grosser sensations as well as the subtler
sensations. Just being aware of whatever you experience without in any way
trying to change it, or judge it. Moving down the arm to the elbow, the surface
of the body as well as the deeper muscle tissue and bone. Notice the
differences of sensation in different densities.
Let
your breath become circular, the inhale following the exhale, which follows the
inhale, without pausing in between. As you continue to breathe in a circle,
become aware of places where you tend to hold your breath. This is where energy
patterns have become stuck in the body. Allow yourself to breathe right through
these places. Move down to the wrist now, and then the palm of the hand and the
back of the hand, all the way down to each finger, and the tips of each finger,
experiencing all the sensations, surface and deep, not leaving out any part of
your body.
Now starting down the other shoulder and arm, moving
your attention slowly part by part down the arm
experiencing all the sensations you possibly can without labeling them, without
trying to define them or judge them. Just experience it as sensation, pure sensation.
Down to the elbow now, moving down to the forearm and the wrist. If you
experience pain, become aware of the components of this pain, where it begins,
how far it extends, what it is made of. Become aware of sub-sensations within
that pain. Moving down your hand, the fingers, front and back, and then the
fingertips, aware of slight variances at different depths and layers, vibration, pulsing, pressure, and temperature.
Now move your attention down the front of your
body—from the throat down to the chest, the lung cavity, the rib cage and the
sternum, down through your heart and the internal organs. Slowly moving down to
the abdominal area, the solar plexus, the belly, the internal organs in your
belly cavity, down to the pelvis and the genitals. You are aware of sensations,
whatever sensations you experience, simply being aware, all the while remaining
totally equanamous. Moving down the back now, starting with the shoulders and
the shoulder blades, experiencing sensations within your spine, the muscles
along your back, the tissues, and the bones. Slowly moving down to the middle
back and then to the lower back.
Now allow your awareness to penetrate right through the body, from the front of
the body through the center and out the back, and then from the back of the
body through the center and out the front. Continue this way as you slowly move
down the trunk of the body, beginning from the throat, moving through the
layers down to the waist and the pelvis. Then bring your awareness from the
right side of your body through the center and out the left, and then from the
left side of your body through the center and out the right, passing through
all the deeper organs, bones, tissues. Allow your breath to continue flowing in
a circular fashion without holding or interference. Let your breath become
very, very subtle. The more subtle the breath, the more you can feel the
subtle sensations.
And
we come down to the buttocks. And now move your attention down one leg, down
the thigh, surface as well as deep, front and back, and side to side. Just
paying attention to any and all feelings, any and all sensations. Again,
without trying to change them in any way, just observing, witnessing, being
with, allowing. Let yourself feel gratitude for your body, this wonderful,
amazing body, this intricate network of cells and organs held together and functioning in such a miraculous way.
Moving down now to the knee and the lower leg, really being with your body now,
aware of the energy flows, noticing how each flow of energy is arising and
falling, arising and falling, in continual change. Moving down to the lower
leg, the ankle, the top and bottom of the foot, down to the extremities. Allow
yourself to feel all the pulsing rhythms, every -sensation. Allow your breath to
be natural. It might change from time to time as your body opens up.
Now moving down the other leg. Down the thigh,
slowly moving down to the knee, back and front, and then side to side. Down
through the lower leg, feeling the subtle electricity, down to the ankle, the
top and bottom of that foot, and all the way down to your toes.
And now we are going to switch directions and
start moving up the body. This time let’s do it simultaneously up both legs,
and then simultaneously up both arms. A little faster this time. Once you
become aware of your body part by part, you can also “sweep” through your body,
and experience the flows of energy through the electrical channels. So, a
little faster this time. Moving up both legs together, starting with the toes,
moving up the feet, up the ankles, the lower legs, front and back, up to the
knees, up the thighs, through the entire pelvic region.
Moving up the front of your body, sweeping up to your throat, then moving up
the back of the body, sweeping up to your neck. And now starting with the
fingertips, moving up both arms simultaneously - up the hands, the wrists,
forearms, up to your elbows, upper arms. And then from the shoulders, moving up
into the neck, front and back; moving up the face, experiencing all the
sensations as you go along—up to the chin, mouth, nose, cheeks, eyes, temples,
ears, and forehead. Moving up the back of the neck, all along the scalp and up
to the very top of your head once more.
(Depending on time available, you may wish to
go back and forth from head to feet several times more.)
Now, get a sense of your whole body, together,
as a single unit. And again, listen for the sound current. Notice if it’s
changed or deepened, and listen again to all sounds within and without,
noticing how you’ve become a part of each sound. A subtle current of sound
begins to vibrate through your entire body, and takes you into a deep, deep
stillness. Remain in this profound stillness now, letting go of any thoughts,
any effort, any activity.
When you’re ready,
gently come back into outer awareness.
Excerpted from “Doorway
to Eternity: A Guide to Planetary Ascension”, available through www.doorwaytoeternity.com
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