"When we do the practices enjoined by the Master and experience the Lord within, then our condition undergoes a radical change -- the love within us no longer clings to this outer world, and we are drawn, as if by a magnet, towards the Beloved within." (from a satsang discourse of Baba Somanath, and this podcast is indeed a home for the satsangs of Baba Somanath)

"You have to make it a practice to listen to Satsang every day -- even if you have to listen for only half an hour. And the other thing is to do your Bhajan Simran and Dhyan every day... We have to consistently listen to Satsang every day and consistently do our meditation every day." (Baba Ram Singh)

"When we're involved with outer activities we are working for others. When we meditate we're working for ourselves. We have to work for our soul relentlessly and consistently every day." (from the satsang discourses of Baba Ram Singh)

Today's Sant Mat Satsang Podcast edition of Spiritual Awakening Radio includes readings from the mystic poetry of Kabir, Rumi, John of Dalyatha, The Gnostic Gospel of Judas, an Aramaic-Syriac prayer of John of Apamea, along with satsang discourses of Baba Somanath and Sant Ram Singh.

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

There are inner Sounds that one receives instruction from a true Master about at the time of initiation into Surat Shabd Yoga (Inner Sound Meditation, the Yoga of the Audible Life Stream). These Sounds are perceived to come from the right side or center and represent the Ascending Current. Sounds that appear to be coming from the left side are of the descending current flowing downward into the material creation or multiverse. One is instructed to focus on the Sounds of the Ascending Current or Audible Life Stream -- certain Sounds. There are of course many other sounds one might hear, but one has to focus on certain Sound Currents. The reason for this is these Sounds, if focused upon during meditation practice, will keep pulling the soul’s attention up to ever higher and higher levels. These are coming from regions Above. Other sounds, though mistaken for the Sound Current, are interesting, miraculous or even mystical, will not help the Surat-soul to ascend or make spiritual progress.

Sometimes in the news there have been reports about people hearing a mysterious sound that seems to be coming from nowhere. One of these has been called "the Taos Hum." In, Philosophy of Liberation, Maharshi Mehi states that not only are there spiritual sounds associated with the heavenly realms, but there are also many vibrations or semi-subtle sounds associated with the gross-material realm. He says one should not falsely assume they are accessing the real inner Sound Current just by hearing ANY kind of sound that may manifest itself in one's perception during the silence of meditation:

"There are sounds due to gross vibrations in the material body. To meditate on these gross-material sounds and believe it to be as the full practice of the Yoga of Sound shows a lack of knowledge of Yoga." There are gross-material sounds one can hear in the silence of meditation that do not lead one Above, do not lead to spiritual growth, transformation or enlightenment. Swami Vyasanand: "This is because only the Central Sound has the power to attract the consciousness to the center and carry the soul to the center of a higher realm. Other illusory material sounds do not have that magnetism to attract the consciousness to the higher realms."

"Various sorts of Sound Currents reverberate in the human system from which the initiate has to pick up the right one and listen to it, otherwise he will go astray and lose his equipoise. The practical Guru forewarns his disciple and directs which Sound to listen to and which one to discard." (Shiv Brat Lal)

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"This is for the exclusive use and guidance of the good and sincere Souls who wish to improve their spiritual vision and explore the Light of the Kingdom of God. It is for those who are not satisfied with the blind captivity of their Souls in this perishable cage that these few hints are given to enable them to realize the spiritual Path that is hidden from their physical eyes." (Swami Ram Bihari Lai, disciple of Baba Gharib Das, a Perfect Saint)

Today, a spiritual satsang featuring readings from a great classic called, The Way Out...Is IN, by Swami Ram Bihari Lal, disciple of Sant Baba Garib Das of the Radhaswami Faith. Also presented is research about Sant Garib Das, who was a close disciple of Soami Ji Maharaj/Seth Shiv Dayal Singh (Sant Radhasoami Sahib), and eventual founder of the Radhaswami Spiritual Science, Radhasoami Satsang at Sarai Rohilla in Delhi.

"Although the disciples of Swami Ji Maharaj reached to thousands in number, yet three of them were most prominent. They were Rai Bahadur Saligram at Agra, Baba Garib Das of Delhi, and Maharaj Baba Jaimal Singh Ji in the Punjab.” (Jaimal Singh's  Spiritual Letters)

“GARIB DAS JI OR GHARIB DAS JI  -- A disciple of Swami Ji, who reached Sach Khand during his lifetime. He was from the Punjab and a brother disciple of Baba Ji [Baba Jaimal Singh]. Though a Saint of the Punjab, he preached Sant Mat in Delhi, where he had some followers. Huzur Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji had a high regard for him.” (Jaimal Singh, Spiritual Letters)

"The Word is Soami and Surat is Radha, and this dhar of surat that turns back and merges into the Shabd (Word) sings 'Radhasoami'. When you sing the name 'Radhasoami', you do the simran of the 'Five Names'." (Sant Garib Das, book of Anmol Bachan)

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

These mystic or heavenly inner Sounds are always resounding in the soul, thus when one attains a certain level of stillness and concentration, spiritual Sound becomes audible. In truth, the inner Sound is always there, it is we (our attention) who come and go. We gain awareness of the Sound, and this creates the illusion that the Sound has "arrived." When we get distracted or leave off our meditation practice it seems to us that the Sound has "stopped." However, this otherworldly Sound continues, like radio waves flowing through the atmosphere, available to be "tuned in" anytime we wish to listen (do bhajan: listen to the inner Sound in meditation). 

Hinduism is very much a religion of Divine Light and Sound; many Indian scriptures and spiritual traditions teach about the universe being created through the Sound of AUM, the ecstasy of hearing the cosmic flute of Krishna, or hearing the Unstruck Melody (Anhad Shabad) of God that reverberates throughout the universe. Yogis of Nada Yoga and Masters of Shabd Yoga Meditation impart to their students knowledge about developing their inner spiritual sense of transcendental hearing. 

"The Sound heard internally is a Current which has originally emanated from the Supreme Being and is the means not only of concentrating the will but also of raising spirit entity to the Source from which it emanated... The method for taking back the spirit-entity to its Supreme Source is first to concentrate at the eye-focus [Third Eye], and next to commence its journey homewards by attending to the internal Sound, or in other words, by riding the Life or Sound Current which has originally emanated from the Supreme Source." (Huzur Maharaj on Surat Shabd Yoga Meditation practice in, Radhaswami Mat Prakash -- Light on the Teachings of the Lord of the Soul, Radhasoami Faith)

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The God-Intoxicated Mystic Divine Love (Bhakti) Poetry of Sant Namdev from the Shri Namdev Gathas, Adi Granth, and from the Padavali of Namdev. Sant Namdev is one of my all-time favorite saints, one of the greatest mystic poets and spiritual masters in Sant Mat history. His verses of love will inspire any spiritual seeker to journey back to the Ocean of Love (Radhasoami Desh, Sach Khand, Sat Lok).

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today we explore Inner Sound Meditation according to the teachings of Sufism, Jainism, the Sikh scriptures, and the Path of Guru Kabir, along with some valuable insight about Inner Sound Meditation practice by Edward Salim Michael. 

"Abstract Sound is called Saut-e Sarmad by the Sufis; all space is filled with it. The vibrations of this Sound are too fine to be either audible or visible to the material eyes or ears, since it is even difficult for the eyes to see the form and color of the ethereal vibrations on the external plane. It was the Saut-e Sarmad, the Sound of the abstract plane, which Muhammad heard in the cave of Ghar-e Hira when he became lost in his divine Ideal. The Qur'an refers to this Sound in the words, 'Be! and all became.' Moses heard this very Sound on Mount Sinai, when in communion with God; and the same Word was audible to Christ when absorbed in his Heavenly Father in the wilderness. Shiva heard the same Anhad Nada during his Samadhi [deep meditation] in the cave of the Himalayas. The flute of Krishna is symbolic of the same Sound. This Sound is the source of all revelation to the Masters, to whom it is revealed from within; it is because of this that they know and teach one and the same truth." (Hazrat Khan, The Sufi Message Series, II, The Mysticism of Sound)

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today: spiritual satsang discourses from Hazur Baba Sawan Singh and Baba Ram Singh, also readings from, The Gospel of Thomas (Yeshua) on the Seven Stages of Spiritual Evolution, mystic poems of Kabir (Rabindranath Tagore's, Songs of Kabir), the Anurag Sagar (Ocean of Love), At the Master's Feet, by Sadhu Sundar Singh, Evagrius Ponticus of Egypt (quoted in, The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life), and a quote from, The Stranger of Galilee, The Sermon on the Mount and the Universal Spiritual Tradition, by Russell Perkins.

"The escape is through the Sound Current." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

"We should listen to our Masters and follow Their instructions. We should also care about our soul and make this effort of going within, sitting for meditations every day, and listening to Satsangs every day." (Baba Ram Singh Ji) 

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You, Radhasoami, 

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"What else is Christ but the Sound of God." (Acts of John) Today, research into the inner Sound mysticism of the Judeo-Christian and Gnostic traditions. Before the Sufi mystics of Islam, in ancient times there were Gnostics: Jewish, Hermetic, and Christian mystics who described hearing Heavenly Sound or Divine Music, and seeing mystic visions of Light and the heavens while in deep states of contemplative meditation. 

The Sound of God is within everyone -- this Holy Stream of Sound -- is within every living being. This is why those given to exploring the Kingdoms of Inner Space through meditation, be they from the East or the West, have discovered this Reality playing within themselves. 

"The soul-explorer is not alone, for there are those who have traveled the highways of the inner cosmos; far more than one may at first realize." (George Arnsby Jones)

"I heard a noise like wind blowing in my ears and knew it for the Sound of the Holy Spirit which became like the voice of a dove. When the Lord spoke to me I lost all sense of time. I did not know if he was with me five or six hours or only one. It was so holy and full of grace that I felt as if I had been in heaven." (Margery Kempe, The Mirror of Love)

"If you should in this world bring many thousand sorts of musical instruments together, and all should be tuned in the best manner most artificially, and the most skillful masters of music should play on them in concert together, all would be no more than the howlings and barkings of dogs in comparison of the Divine Music, which rises through the Divine Sound and tunes from Eternity to Eternity."  (Jacob Boehme, German Mystic)

"In the beginning was the Logos (the Word), the Logos was with God and the Logos was God." (Gospel of John 1: 1)

"The Divine Logos... is the helmsman and governor of the universe... The everlasting Logos of the eternal God is the very sure and staunch prop of the Whole... But the shadow of God is his Word [Logos], which he used like an instrument when he was making the world... Heaven is ever-making Music, producing in accordance with its celestial motions the Perfect Harmony. ... To such strains, it is said, Moses was listening, when, having become disembodied, for forty days and as many nights he touched neither bread nor water at all." (Philo of Alexandria, On The Music of the Spheres)

"Listen within yourself and look into the infinitude of Space and Time. There can be heard the songs of the Constellations, the voices of the Numbers, and the Harmonies of the Spheres." (Hermes Trismegistus, Corpus Hermeticum of Egypt)

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Out of all the apocryphal writings I've collected, I think the Odes of Solomon is the most beautiful, inspiring and inspired. It is the would-be book of New Testament psalms! The Book of the Odes has been described as the first known hymn-book of early Christianity. They have nothing to do with "Solomon" but somewhere-along-the-way got mislabeled and assigned to the genre of Old Testament Apocrypha as the Odes represent one of the earliest of Christian documents near the beginning of the Jesus movement within Judaism and so composed before a time when there were many Jewish or Christian writings associated with a "new covenant", and long before the concept of a New Testament canon or collection of scriptures was conceived of. Thus, this collection of psalms was named in a way that's reminiscent of how some scriptures were assigned names during the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the pseudepigraphical literature. This indicates a very early date of composition. The Odes of Solomon consist of 41 psalms. The Odes are believed to have originated in either Antioch or Edessa in Syriac-Aramaic most likely during the First Century AD. One scholar (James Charlesworth) said of the Odes, "Here are some of the most beautiful songs of peace and joy that the world possesses." The New Testament scholar Bentley Layton says that the Odes were considered to be inspired scripture and were chanted by Christians who lived in Syria and all around Mesopotamia about 2,000 years ago. J. Rendel Harris, the discoverer of one Syriac-Aramaic manuscript of the Odes, said the Odes were eventually included in the Sahidic Bible of Egypt. These ecstatic hymns remind me of Rumi or Sufi love poetry in the tradition of "the lover and the Beloved." They also remind me of the Sikh scriptures (Adi Granth) and mystic poetry of the Sants. Many have adopted the practice of contemplating the verses of the Odes and report being brought to a deeper level of devotion (bhakti); being caught up in a love-affair with God, the Ocean of Love. That's also been my experience.

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Spiritual Awakening Radio (and Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts) with James Bean, heard on various community, public radio stations and the web, explores the world of spirituality, comparative religion, world scriptures and other books, East and West, God, meditation, out of body or near death experiences (inner space), the vegan diet and other ahimsa ethics -- education for a more peaceful planet.

"In the beginning was the Word, the OM, Tao, Logos, Music of the Spheres, Songlines, the Song of the Creator..." The Yoga of Sound Series Exploring Inner Sound Meditation (Auditory Mysticism, The Sound Current, Audible Life Stream, Surat Shabd Yoga) in the Sacred Texts of the Great World Religions, Gnostic Traditions, and the Path of the Masters (Sant Mat, Radhasoami,). TODAY: The Introduction, Buddhism, also, The Bahai Faith.

"As you calm down, you can experience the Sound of Silence in the mind. You hear it as a kind of high frequency Sound, a ringing Sound that’s always there. It is just normally never noticed. Now when you begin to hear that Sound of Silence, it’s a sign of emptiness -- of silence of the mind. It’s something you can always turn to. As you concentrate on it and turn to it, it can make you quite peaceful and blissful. Meditating on that, you have a way of letting the conditions of the mind cease without suppressing them with another condition. Otherwise you just end up putting one condition over another." (Ajahn Sumedho)

"It is easiest to hear this Sound when it is quiet, particularly at night-time. Once you have identified this Sound, then you place your awareness on it without wavering. Resting your mind in the Sound, you continue to listen, going further and further into the Sound itself." (Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche)

In Divine Love, Light and Sound,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

https://www.spiritualawakeningradio.com/sant-mat