MUSIC and MYSTICISM

The lovelorn sing to their beloved.

At one time or another, perhaps we all do.

Before we find this beloved, we ache for her. Our being gets imbued with a deep longing for our yet unfound sweet-heart. Our heart, mind and soul sing this unsung melody. Many of us die without having found our muse.

Yet, those who do succeed in finding their respective soul mate; cannot help but feel an uncontrollable, taunting-tingling sensation in their veins whenever they muse about, meet or mourn for their beloved. Who has not sensed this song reverberating in the soul, in one form or another; if not ostentatiously, then, oh-so-secretly!

Mystics sing to their Beloved.

Of course, theirs is not the worldly but the ‘other-worldly’ maiden.

In many mystical circles, especially of the East, it is a recommended, rigorously rehearsed meditative practice. The Sufis call this ‘Sama’. They sing odes to their Unseen Beloved. Not only because it is a postulation of their Preceptor; but also owing to the fact that their aching heart cannot help but break into a mournful ode to ‘That’; the Almightiness of Eternity.

Mohammedanism forbids it. Quakers and Amish too keep mum. Ultraorthodox Jews do not relish it. Most fundamentalists die with a song unsung in their heart. They are willing to kill for God but not sing for ‘Him’ Thankfully, psalms keep many a Biblical people singing and smiling.

The East, more specifically India, much advanced in mystical matters; makes a song and a dance about each and everything, on any and every occasion, spiritual or otherwise. Devotional singing is a way of life here. It is another matter that now-a-days loudspeakers set ablaze our early morning haze; all keen to awaken others than themselves becoming ‘Awakened’!

There is much rooting, yet, hooting too for music in mysticism.

The opposition is in less advanced, unenhanced religious systems. That is, these “hearing hear not”, grim-faced “god-damn-you” songsters, never catch the godly ‘goggle’ that Nature throws the way of humankind.

We all obey The Eternal Law of Nature.

When sad, we cry. When happy, sing. What is more natural than this?

Even scientific studies recommend music therapy for alleviating painfulness; elevating peacefulness within us. Only Stone Age belief systems keep beating the same wall; of bookish isms and raving, ranting writs and reasons.

During proper, purposeful meditation; that is, while silently listening to the song of the soul; it is not uncommon to hear pleasant chirping, ringing or humming sounds. A little advanced practitioner may even hear ‘Aum’ like sound. It would be found akin to ‘Amen’ of the Christians and ‘Ameen’ of the Muslims, if the ‘n’ is hummed and not drummed. All three sound alike then. It would be ‘A’ and ‘M’; like opening and closing of our mouth, trying to say something yet holding back at the exact moment and not uttering it. It is The Unsaid.

Yogis say it is the surreal sound of the skies. Is the Music of God.

Music is the muse of gods. It breathes in the soul of simpletons and sophisticated alike. It recognizes creed nor breed, color or ‘collar’, robe nor religion, book or crook. It takes abode in every heart. Whosoever fine tunes within, hears it. It is the life of Nature.

However, life sings in silence. Who recognize it, sing with it. Who sing it; start hearing the silence outside as within. It serves as a yoke with our soul. The Sanskrit word ‘yoga’ means ‘to yoke’. Yoke or unite with What Is: Truth, God.

Thus, the Yogis, Sufis and Free Mystics, recognizing its utility in ‘yoking’ to ‘What Is’; recommend and respect music as a divine blessing. In every kind and creed of religious sect, lower or higher, devotional music plays a crucial part here in India. The mystical teachings of entire Sikh Holy Scripture are set in 31 classical Indian ‘raga’, musical settings. Musical beat brings many an aborigine and an African race nearer God. It plays an important part in spiritual practices of the Red Indians.

In Sufi dervish gathering, ‘whirling’ dance, going round and round while devotional music is sung or played, is said to give them a ‘high’. Of course, it is open to drama and deceit; but, at the minimum it encourages, at a subtle level, to lead the spiritual seekers to fine-tuning their mystical ear. They start ‘hearing’ better the song of their soul.

All said and done, real music lies in silence.

Cacophony within, if not silenced, creates but crap-n-phony. Music, especially the right kind, mystical and divine, helps in clearing many a mess within. Yet, if not ‘hearing’ with the ‘right’ ear, music ‘maddens’ the ‘maiden’ of mystical understanding residing in us. Many a musician of the mundane but popular kind, get high on hallucinating drugs; misinterpreting some visions here or there as spirituality. It is not.

Music is used as a means in mysticism. It is not the end.

In the end there is but silence. All meditational practices are meant to get us somewhere ‘There’. The Endless Zone of Silence; where the soul is silent; silence is the soul. Hearing ‘That’ sound of silence, the free mystics sing. In the Eternal Soul of Silence, music and mysticism merge; becoming more than ‘duality’: One! This Immanent Silence is the music of the free mystics.

“I am in the Father, and the Father in me!”

Let this Silence sing.

All else is but blind leading the blind.


P.S. - Of auxiliary interest:-

i) http://nderf.org/
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ii)  http://krishnamurtisongs.com/

Allah Versus God !

Man-made, mind-made gods are not God.

Names such as Allah, Aloha etc. of the Semitic religions; Ram, Krishna, Shiva etc. of the Hindus; as also innumerable gods and goddesses of every other region and religion are just that. Mind-made, man-made name-calling.

That Which Is cannot be put in ‘purdah’.

God cannot be hid in veil.

This Almightiness is ‘something’ beyond, above names. Is Nameless. It cannot be branded. God is nobody’s pet.

Yet, very recently, in Malaysia, fanatical Muslims damaged churches as also a Sikh temple. Reason? The Christian clergy had, like it does in Egypt, Syria and Indonesia, addressed God as ‘Allah’. The Sikh Holy Scripture, ‘Guru Granth Sahib’, of course, addresses God with as many names as were prevalent at that time of the Sikh gurus and before them in ancient India. It includes Allah.

The ‘wise’ Muslim government of Malaysia, ruling under ‘Shari-at’, the Mohammedan Law, has very unwisely prohibited non-Muslims from calling God by this name, Allah. Making this endearing term their pop’s property! Some sagacious Malaysian judge put this petty issue to rest; ruling that it was illegal to put this bar on others. Not to be outdone, the Malaysian government has yet filed an appeal. The issue has far from ended. It simmers; neither silenced nor stilled.

Stillness is a sine qua non for The Stateless State.

Unless and until the demons of superstition, images of instilled devils and gods are not stilled, a spiritual seeker is unable to experience the Wisdom of the free mystics and the Sufis. The Truth as experienced and expressed by the ancient Sufi saints such as Bulle Shah or Mansur-Al-Hallaj is beyond the reach of an average reader of Quran.

Sufism is beyond the reach of Islam.

The God of Sufis and Mohammedans is different.

So also is The Ultimate Reality.

In ‘That’ state of the Sufis, there is only One and Oneness. The seeker and the Sought are experienced as One Whole. There are no gods ‘There’. What exists therein is experienced as All-ness, Wholeness. Godliness. The Alpha and the Omega. The End and The Beginning. Completeness.

The ancient Yogic texts of India address this Buddha-hood, State of Knowing Reality, as ‘Neti-Neti!” Or, “Not This! Not This!” Calling ‘It’ by any name changes not The Reality.

However, most of the religions of today and afore, especially Mohammedanism, do not self-experience this ‘God’ of Quintessence. Vast majority of humankind thinks there is some old ‘fella’ sitting up there; waiting to either give us a horrible spanking or is going to 'hot' spice up of our life. Both views are wrong.

There is no ‘this’ or ‘that’ in Reality.

No god in the form of man or in any other form is sitting ‘up there’! We of the modern world, when science has advanced so much, should not accept Stone Age beliefs. This vision of God is passé. Science gives us a better hint, than do most religions, about God.

Science is a good messiah.

It teaches us now that solid forms are illusory in reality. Their quantum or ‘inner reality’ is in a continuous flux. Since we cannot detect this ever-changing equation of solidity by our naked eye, we think things are solid. They are not. One could say, in quintessence, everything that we see in this world, is a flexuous movement and momentum of energy; which, because of interactive forces acting on each other, seems to make this un-stilled phenomena appear as a solid entity.

This ‘illusory goddess’ is called ‘Maya’.

The ancient free mystics of India, had in deeper realities of spiritual reign, found that all forms dissolve unto the Formless, images into the Imageless, life unto life-less-ness unto All-ness unto Wholeness. Ending in One and Oneness.

There are no gods but God.

"La Illah-il-Allah!"

However, this ‘Allah’ is not some form. Unfortunately, the Muslims as also most Christians, Jews, Hindus and vast majority of our ancestors then and peers now, could not then and do not at present get rid of the ‘devil’ of this belief that God is in the form of our own ‘man’ image. This is untrue.

What Is exists as Imageless Image of Wholeness.

Simply, ‘It’ may be called Spirit. We are in the ‘image’ of ‘That’ in our soul-essence. That is, we are the ‘split-image’ of All That Is. God made us in ‘His’ Image!

Those who seek, need find ‘This’. And, ‘That’!

Images-icons, names-forms, gods-goddesses, angels-demons, avatars-messiahs, heaven-hell, devil and such hyperbolic experiences are in the lower realms of spirituality. This 'kindergarten' state of spiritual life must be 'overcome'. The Sufis rise above it. And, discover The Eternal Truth. The yogis and free mystics seek and find this Allah. There is no other god.

Allah is God. And, God is Allah! All is That Which Is. Call this 'That', God, Allah. Whatever. Named, un-named. This Nameless is untamed. Neither yours, nor mine to claim!

O' man of Allah! Attain!!

Near Death Experience (NDE) & Reality

One must not be mistaken for the other.

Near Death Experience (NDE), so termed by us now a days, is at the lowest rung of the long ladder to the higher metaphysical, yogic and spiritual realm. These experiences are not IT.

The experiences so narrated in NDE, the similarities and the dissimilarities so documented and derivations thereof, as listed in this wonderful website http://nderf.org/  are very commendable and informative. This is the sincere work of dedicated scientific individuals. All those who seek God in this ungodly world of today, should make the writings on this above mentioned website a must read.

However, NDE is but a wake up call.

What is called Near Death Experience, should more properly and probably be addressed as NEAR DIVINE EXPERIENCE.

These NDEs wherein one experiences 'body-less-ness', sees bright lights, witnesses fantastical imagery of various living and non-living things, hears pleasant sounds, feels suckled by a divine indescribable blissfulness etc. are but metaphysical and yogic experiences a seeker on the path of spirituality is bound to experience more naturally and spontaneously, as a matter of course, under a competent Preceptor. Or, even by one's own self, if thus be the being's destiny. One need not be in any near death accident or illness to experience some of these NDEs.

Innumerable metaphysical books exist in India on this subject since yore.

What the West takes for more, the East considers less.

It is Reality we should be interested in more.

The NDEs should prompt that one who is experiencing this to seek yet more. Often it does. Who has passed through Near Death/Divine Experience, subtly but surely changes, usually for the better. The world no longer seems the same.

Being touched by The Divine bedevils the mind.

One never thinks the same way one did before this particular NDE was experienced. An unlimited realm of possibilities opens up in one's intellect and insight. This is the least that happens after such experiences.

Such a one is likely to become more spiritual than religious. 

In other words, an intelligent and an aware mind that has witnessed and registered this-that NDE is more likely to question self-righteous, rigid rules and regulations of religion, especially one's own. No matter where one is born.

Something changes forever after Near Death/Divine Experience.

A sincere seeker should look beyond these experiences. In ancient Indian yogic texts, one is especially warned of these lower experiences and getting engulfed by the same. These NDEs should propel the seeker up; further into the Realm Of That Which Is. Who gets stuck in lower realms, enamored by these piddle-little experiences, shall surely fall. The free mystics of the East warn us.

One must lose all to gain All That Is.

Near Death/Divine Experiences serve this purpose. Nothing more.

To seek Reality. Whatsoever Is. God. Or not!

Science & Spirituality

"Nature obeys mathematical law."
           -Frank A. Wilczek (Nobel Prize Physics, 2004)

                                                                                                      
It is a fallacy.

Nature does not follow mathematical law.

Maths does. Science does. This is the mathematical law.

This is science. The ability to know the difference is mathematical genius of man. To assume that we of limited minds can dictate to The Unlimited is sheer arrogance of man. It does not mean the honorable Nobel laureate is so. It just brings to fore a common trait of humankind. We assume we know more than we do. In fact, we know little.

Science is an ever changing maths.

Every day, modern science is discovering newer theories and truths. The old ones do not work. The newer are not static. The old is being given up for the new. Recent scientific findings are putting the old ones in the grave. Proving the previous denizens false, newer demigods of science are claiming hegemony.

There are no more gods left.

So, who is following whom?

Nature is as it was. It shall always thus remain.

It is science which is discovering itself. It is finding better ways to know Nature; succeeding too. To some extent. Yet, it cannot dictate Nature.

Hell, we cannot even predict weather!

Nature follows Law of The Unlimited. Science obeys it. It first discovers the limited laws of nature, and, just when it thinks it has it right, Nature proves it wrong. The limited cannot know the Unlimited.

Man is no god. Neither is science; it may think so, yet, it is not.

Nature comes from The Unlimited. It is sired from That Which Is: God, in common man’s lingo. We, the world and those inhabiting it, are but putty in the hands of Nature. It decides when we come here and when we go. All that man can and does do is to live out the interval: following, finding, fixing, floundering and free-wheeling in betwixt. We do not, cannot dictate to Nature. We obey it. Who does not, is devoid of a scientific temperament.

Science has much to learn from spirituality.

By spirituality is meant metaphysics. Superstition, unscientific semantics of Stone Age religions and ranting of religious bigots has no place in real spirituality. And, pray, what is this “real” thing?

Real spirituality is scientific.

Scientific in the sense that what is not factually true, proved to one’s own self at least, is either false or a fancy. The words used here to define ‘scientific’ are “proved to one’s own self at least”. This does not mean some so-called ‘prophetic’ vision of a self-accredited, meandering ‘messiah’ of past or present is taken to be ‘proved to one’s own self’. Certainly not.

The Law of Nature, The Unlimited Almightiness, God of the masses and That Which Is of the classes, is proved to one’s own SELF. This ‘self’ is not human bodily form but the LIFE that inhabits it as its driving force; it’s Divine Self. Some call this soul, others, spirit. The free mystics refer to it, while defining the Indefinable and Indescribable, as Universal Life, Oneness, Life Force, Universal Soul etc. Straightforwardly and simply, THAT WHICH IS, sans sophistry, is referred to as Nature or God.

This ‘proved to one’s own self’ is called Self-Realization.

It is also called God-Realization. It is what The Knowing One, Buddha, self-discovers through one’s metaphysical experiences; witnessed in and by The Self. By the LAW OF NATURE inhabiting in us all, as our life and spirit. This is always One.

There are no gods in God.

There is only One, Oneness everywhere. This is the penultimate Science of Spirituality. This is the god of free mystics. Were it not ‘proved to one’s own self’, an inquisitive mind and man in the make of a free soul, this free mystic would rather remain an atheist than a believer.

“Better a kafir than kufr!” Free mystics advocate.

That is, rather than telling a lie/kufr, remain an infidel/kafir.

In a nutshell, what it means is that if the end result of this spiritual, metaphysical search is not scientifically, spiritually self-proven to be ONE; then, the atheists and the agnostics are right. If seeking, and, then, not finding ‘That’ something ‘Which Is’ as One and Oneness, God and Godliness; one might as well be an egoistic man believing he is the almighty, the ultimate god. This would be more scientific than believing in some anthropomorphic god. The fable of this ferocious “old” bully sitting ‘up there’ in an illusory far-away ‘zannat’/heaven, with ‘hooris’/fairy damsels pressing his legs and much more is often sold as the fairy-tale to, and fancifully if not fanatically, believed by the so-called ‘jehadi’/holy warriors who die in the name of this rickety, raunchy fellow called god.

Science must obey Nature.

This ONENESS OF ALL THAT IS, God Almighty, is a phenomenon the scientists need find. The Yogis, Sufis and Free Mystics all ages through have sought and found this One.

Seek and find.

If science obeys Nature, then, one fine day THE LAW OF ONE shall be finally, fully understood by the scientific community. The free mystics found IT.

Science has yet to find THAT WHICH IS.

Life After Death

Hello world! Happy New Year!

This is my first official jotting on this blog.

Not wanting to waste my own or my readers time on frivolous matters, I seek to only tell WHAT IS, AS IS. Every time.

If some are encouraged through the upcoming blogging herein to seek The TRUTH themselves, not through second-hand info; that would be reward enough.

This is the explicit purpose of this blog. Nothing else. 

Today's topic is from Larry King's page at  twitter.com/kingsthings dated 23rd December, 2009:

"Do you believe in life after death?"

Well, in India, we do. At least, the majority does.

Most do because it has been handed down to us from our ancestral belief system. The free mystics, the spiritual seekers with a mind of their own, wanting to know THAT WHICH IS by their own first-hand experience than through any textual guides/gurus, have left us a lot of yogic literature wherein we are informed about such matters in deep detail. Today I am going to bring forth the message of Saint KABIR on this very topic. And, more.

Unlike the West, we in India address all our holy men, genuine and fake ones alike, as 'baba' or 'sant'/saint. Admittedly, most of these fellows are not up to the mark any which way in spiritual matters. Yet, some are. Kabir was one such free mystic.

A poor low caste weaver by profession, this uneducated yet mystically erudite saintly fellow was prone to annoying both the Hindus and the Muslims alike. It could not be determined whether he was a Muslim or a Hindu. To further complicate matters, he was particularly critical of and wont to poke much fun at the clergy of that era. In the 16th century.

Oddly enough, today, wanting to start the New Year on a promising note, I started reading the Sikh Holy Book (Guru Granth Sahib) from the page I had marked after my previous reading of it quite a while back. I had forgotten it was Kabir I had been reading. Today, I had just enough time to read only one 'sloka'. It was on life after death, god and reality as is. Not as we believe it is.

Some days back, after much hesitation, while deciding that I was going to start blogging/twittering on the first day of 2010, I happened to read Larry King's tweet on this particular topic of life, death  & hereafter. I decided then and there that this was going to be my very first blogging and twitter topic. Some coincidence, eh?

Anyway, this mystical rendering of Kabir, describing Reality in That Surreal Stateless State, translated freely from its original text, is as follows:

Season-sea, sunshine-shadow sphere

Creation-Destruction an't "There";

Life-death, sorrow-joy don't persist

Emptiness, transcendence don't exist.

This Reality, Stateless State refined

Inexplicable; is but one of a kind;

Becoming not less, or any more

light-heavy, weightless yet more.

Nether-upper realm isn't where

night, day too is not there;

water-air, fire isn't where

Truth, Holy Preceptor is There. 

Inaccessible-Unknowable, Ever

One's Guru's Grace does deliver. 

Kabir! Sacrifice be at Guru's altar

Unto Eternal Truth seek I shelter!

This was the Self-Realization of free mystics, yogis, sufis, sages and seers of ancient India. It still is.

The free mystics of the East believe what they themselves see with their own eyes. Thus, the question is not whether one believes in this or that but whether one knows or does not know WHICH IS. This is the Way of the East.

So, is there life after death?

There is DEATHLESSNESS.

Here and  There.

Hereafter and Thereafter. 

In Spirit and in Truth.