“Your faith in the sound body needs to be far higher than your individual experiences.”
This line emerged as a practice in one of our Substance of Love workshop session. Let’s explore this deeper.
With our awareness, breath and consciousness when we are doing a practice there could be at least these three phenomenon that are present.
There is something that will be happening in our inner experience. Let us take inner experiences as layer 1. Our inner experience includes our thoughts, emotions, sensations, memory imprints and the like. Through our practice something could get triggered in our inner experience. It could be positive or negative. If people are only focussing here they make errors in discernment of their practice. For example due to a good practice (say someone is chanting within their body) some limiting dark energy gets released from within, they could get scared and stop the practice. This is a great opportunity for healing or transformation lost.
This brings us to another layer of experience. When we truly practice, something opens up like a higher vibration or state of being. Let us take this as layer 2. For example we could experience wave like consciousness around us, or connection to vastness or a state of peace and silence, or an automatic state of joy / bliss or an heightened sense of calmness / aliveness / alertness and the like. We may experience this within us or around us or above us or below our feet. Another example of layer 2 is going and sitting near Samadhi, or Matrimandir or walking in a pure & beautiful space in nature. In all these cases if we truly connect to the Master or Nature or Divine then layer 2 is enhanced within us or around us or above us or below us. Or for example you are chanting or reading Lalita Sahasranama, a profound invocation of the many qualities of the Divine Goddess. If we read or chant it mechanically nothing happens. But if we connect to the names, sounds and almost become united with the chant, a certain state of Presence forms even in the room where we are doing the practice. All these are examples of layer 2.
When we do our inner practices layer 2 is what we need to focus on to detect if we are opening up to something good. If our point of reference is reactions of layer 1 which is our individual experience, it could lead to confusions. For example let us say we feel some wave like vast and floating feeling all around us. This is an example of layer 2. However it could be new to us or through associative memory it could trigger some images internally and we could be filled with fear. This fearful inner experience (layer 1) of fear is a reaction to a beautiful experience unfolding in layer 2. We perhaps are not used to it or may not have the capacity to bear it. Once we are able to discern our layer 2 and we sense something good unfolding then we can relax and open the very same inner experience which is shrinking to the quality or state or vibration of vast and floating waves and allow for transformation. Now if we have developed right understanding or capacity to hold these experiences then our inner experience would also be a state of gladness for a beautiful state unfolding in layer 2.
Layer 2 is actually impersonal. It is in the domain of universal, cosmic or Divine. An extension of Layer 1 will be the inter-subjective space. This is the space of how our inner experiences interfaces with others and triggers and gets triggered by others. This too we take it as an extension of our inner experience. Layer 2 is truly the domain of Higher or Divine Consciousness acting on us. When we do our inner practice and layer 2 builds up and we connect it to our layer 1, it leads to individual healing or transformation.
But yet in body work we need to learn to go beyond our individual experiences and personal healing.
The layer 3 is a domain within our body, but free and beneath our individual and inter-subjective experiences. For example it is the pure substance at the depth of every cell. In a way of speaking it is Pure vibrations of layer 2 (higher consciousness) that lives as layer 3 within our body. This pure substance is self-lit, radiant, joyful and is love.
With this background let us enter into an exploration of Sound. The domain of sounds exists everywhere in layer 1,2 and 3.
Let us take a part of a quote from the Page 224 of the book Sri Saundarya Lahari by Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati:
“According to the agamas, Shakti in her purest form before mingling with matter has nine manifestations, which are the atma of the universe, as they percolate into each and every form of creation. The nine manifestations are: i) matrika, the energy residing in sound, ii) kula, lineage, iii) nama, form, iv) jnana, knowledge, v) chitta, individual consciousness, vi) nada, the varying frequencies of sound, vii) bindu, nucleus, viii) kaala, time, and ix) jiva or atman, the self who enjoys.”
Opening to the Grace, Love, Force and Light of the Shakti is layer 2. She exists. We open ourselves humbly, in a receptive posture. Now if we take the first aspect of matrika alone for this exploration, there is a Higher Energy that resides in sound that enters into matter and our body and being. This is happening in each moment, in the present. We may not be aware. With faith as we may not have ‘heard’ or received Her, we bow down to Her as sound. All our sound practices like ‘AUM’, which is a primordial sound is in a way a part of this. Now we can chant AUM within us and it would land within our inner experiences. If we can concentrate on the sound vibration of AUM and repeat it within us it supports in the healing of our inner experiences. The same AUM can be chanted within the substance of our body and its depths. Now if we can consciously repeat this sound, its vibration and presence starts to stand on its own. The AUM is an ancient chant which has deep rooted higher aspiration, light and will to unite with Higher. If we keep repeating AUM consciously whenever we remember, hopefully we will come to a time when it is chanting on its own. We see this example in Mother’s Agenda where Her Cells were chanting Her mantra 24/7. The word ‘sound body’ has been coined to indicate a body’s substance with is filled with a primordial sound, bija mantra or another mantra that is rising within oneself with joy. Such a body can hold higher vibrations within in a steady state and by progressing offering of our individual experiences to the Influence of these sound vibrations combined with New Consciousness (present as layer 2) coming from Above, can be a body that is on the path to evolve into the next stage of human.
Now the sound vibration chant can be done within our individual experiences which provides personal healing or it can be chanted beneath our individual experiences. We can do it by aiming our focus beneath our individual experiences of thoughts, feelings and emotions. The experience of beneath our individual experiences, could be felt as space within our body or outside or as pure substance untouched by any of our history of experiences. Both this space and pure substance is in the domain of impersonal or universal, but felt as US. The individual sensations may not be here within this space or pure substance. However we can easily see the self-light or experience the self-joy or love that is there. The sound vibration can be chanted in this beyond individual experiences’ space or substance (layer 3). This builds a more firmer and more stable presence of Higher Qualities to be present within our depths and would cast their influence then on our individual experiences. This is what we are referring as a sound body.
Now in the beginning we may not be aware of the impersonal potent space or pure substance beneath our history of personal experiences. So when we do body work we may be focussed largely on clearing our individual experiences. This is great but this alone is not enough. We need to go to the Source. Here we are doing this through sound. So faith helps. Faith in Sound as Sakthi Herself. Faith that there is a layer pure beneath our personal experiences. Faith in our inner practice that even though we don’t know how to, we can still aim our awareness beneath our individual experiences and chant the AUM or bija mantras. And faith that Grace and Love will guide our path.
“Every time I offer incense or prostrate before the altar in my hermitage, I do not do this as an individual self but as a whole lineage. Whenever I walk, sit, eat, or practice calligraphy, I do so with the awareness that all my ancestors are within me in that moment. I am their continuation. Whatever I am doing, the energy of mindfulness enables me to do it as “us,” through interbeing, not as “me.” When I hold a calligraphy brush, I know I cannot remove my father from my hand. I know I cannot remove my mother or my ancestors from me. They are present in all my cells, in my gestures, in my capacity to draw a beautiful circle. Nor can I remove my spiritual teachers from my hand. They are there in the peace, concentration, and mindfulness I enjoy as I make the circle. We are all drawing the circle together.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master, poet, scholar, and peace activist who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Excerpted from The Art of Living.
Those of us who have followed works of Thich Nhat Hanh have deep regard for him. There are many tiny insights in his quote. We highlight them and invite all of us to explore how to bring them into our practices.
1.There is a certain aspect of deeper body work that goes beyond the individual and her/his healing. Entering this impersonal and universal dimension of body work, yet done deep in the cells of our body is fascinating.
2. To develop subtle awareness such that we are able to detect the interfacing-embedded thoughts, emotions, energies, sensations and currents within our body is sometimes painful in the beginning and yet it brings forth deep awareness and opportunities for clearing if we are in some deeper body work practice. Thich Nhat Hanh has used this term – “We do not exist independently. We inter-are.” It perhaps would help us to go beyond ego to acknowledge that lot of what we are experiencing in our cells is from our ancestors and people whom we have interacted with.
3. If we manage to do this practice mindfully we may observe in the small things, like the way we hold a cup of tea, the way we sip it, the way we walk, our body language, our voice, our facial expressions, the way we eat, what we eat, how do we respond to illness is all programmed into the cells of our body.
4. Now we come to the most fascinating insight. In the beautiful circle that is drawn through his hand through a brush, he notices the influence of his father, mother and ancestors. There is deep peace and acceptance beneath this experience. First is awareness of influence of others. And for most of us this could lead to irritation and annoyance. In this case we notice deep acceptance and through these ‘cells’ of his hand is drawn a beautiful circle.We can aspire to do our own practices of acceptance and memory work of releasing all stuck energies to come to a living and evolving acceptance of others influences in the way our body and cells are operating in the present.
5. Then comes the master clue. The influence of spiritual teachers on his hand is seen as peace, concentration and mindfulness. This opens up an insight in our deeper body work where we become aware of our body’s substance and its different points / cells. We then connect our body’s cells in a impersonal and universal way to our Divine or Master in an intimate way. Slowly we enter Their subtle body and subtle presence. If we can be in this state with eyes closed or eyes open, while meditating or while doing daily activities slowly the ‘Qualities’ present within the Divine or Master cast their presence within our body’s cells. This is Pran pratishthaof our body’s cells, an act of great humbleness and the underlying purpose of our existence of our life, beneath all other purposes.
Quote 1: “But I am not sure, for when I had this experience (not of the divine Presence, which I had already felt in the cells for a long time, but the experience that the Divine ALONE is acting in the body, that He has BECOME the body, yet all the while retaining his character of divine omniscience and omnipotence) well, the whole time it remained actively like that, it was absolutely impossible to have the LEAST disorder in the body, and not only in the body, but IN ALL THE SURROUNDING MATTER.”
Quote 2: “It is the result of the descent of the supramental substance into Matter. Only this substance – what it has put into physical Matter – could have made it possible. It is a new ferment. From the material standpoint, it removes from physical Matter its tamas, the heaviness of its unconsciousness, and from the psychological standpoint, its ignorance and its falsehood. Matter is subtilized. But it has surely come only as a first experience to show how it will be.
It is truly a state of absolute omniscience and omnipotence in the body which changes all the vibrations around it.”
June 6, 1958, Mother’s Agenda
INSIGHT:
Very humbly we need to examine this quote without any desire or ego or ambition or subtle spiritual pride stealing in. We are reading the work of the Masters. Here is quoted an experience of The Mother. This realization within the Body of The Mother has an impact on the ONE SUBSTANCE which is present in all our bodies. Without ego or desire it is very important for us to read and digest this quote, as it would make a significant shift in our own practice.
In the beginning in deeper body work we learn to bring our awareness within our body and connect to the Divine – Above, within cave of heart, as Divine Mother or Lord and the like. In the beginning we may be aware of the energy or sensations within the body. Matter itself can become our focus leading us to connect to our substance. Our inner senses will reveal the nourishing and limiting qualities present here. Yet our inner senses may not be able to sense the fullness or the depth of substance. There is a truth radar which by Grace of Divine shows to us a portion of substance which has some Divine Qualities like radiance, beauty, malleability and blissfulness. This portion of Divine substance at times expands and fills neighbouring cells of body or larger portions of the body too. At other times our awareness seems caught up with the inner dramas and the Divine substance is not in sight.
This aspiration and sadhana to build this Divine substance within each of our bodies is done by the Divine and Masters. It is a ‘Source’ that is available to all of us. As we internalise this our sadhana could take a new turn. We learn to be within our body’s substance, aspiring for Divine substance. We are with our breath, our mantra, our surrendering posture, our connect to Divine Above and the like. Yet we wait like a bridegroom waits to be with the bride and unite, we wait to glimpse this Divine substance and give space for IT to act, mould and grow within us.
RETREAT To Make Thy Inner Light Visible – A Sadhana residential retreat to assimilate Grace Light within our Body and Being
3 April to 6 April 2025 | Thursday 1 pm to Sunday 11 am IST | Venue: Arulville, Chennai – Pondicherry route
Facilitator: Arul Dev
Immerse yourself in a 3-day retreat surrounded by nature and a quiet, joyful setting. Experience inner practices that transform your body, senses, energy, emotions, thoughts, and memory imprints. This experiential portal will deepen your capacity for healing and integral transformation.
We will spend time to deepen our connect with Source Consciousness – Above Head, within Cave of Heart and Sacred Depth beneath feet. We will draw guidance from the subtle support of flowers for our Sadhana. We will learn to work at the level of inner vibrations and allow these subtle and loving intense vibrations to open up, what still lies untransformed within.
The retreat’s sweet spot is the possible discovery of subtle substance within the depth of the body and the loving intimacy of cells. The subtle substance is always self-lit, soft, joyful, pure and filled with love. This once touched within, fundamentally shifts the orientation of our body and life.
The vision for this retreat is to empower people to do Deeper Body Sadhana on a daily basis to Transform their Total Self.
The prerequisites to participate are an aspiration to transform inwardly and express creatively one’s Self in the world, a faith and connection with something larger – Nature, Universe, or Divine, and a basic level of love to do deeper body work.
This upcoming residential RETREAT starting on April 3rd 2025 seems to take us into our next era of deeper body work. Healing and transforming personal experiences within our body is a necessary part of our work to reduce the inner noise and entanglements. However we need to learn to do the Sadhana impersonally and give a lot of time and space to the main work – to link our body and its substance to the Divine’s (Higher Consciousness) Qualities and Substance. An intuition has clearly come to do this tangibly and concretely in this coming retreat.
The retreat is facilitated by Arul Dev. Every morning to open up our body we would have yoga and dynamic flow exercises by Shweta Rajurkar. And in this retreat we have a new addition as a session on day 1 to prepare us for the whole three-day retreat.
Post the ‘Decoding Shakti’ session on Women’s Day Dr. Vishwapriya Pillai who facilitated one of the sessions had an intuition to offer a session for this retreat participants. On day 1 she will be guiding us on connecting to the Divine energy within through the Shree Chakra.
The retreat Venue Arulville founded and run by Anthony Raj built with indigenous architecture is a beautiful space to run wellness programs and retreats: https://www.arulville.com/
To get a glimpse of what normally unfolds in these retreats do find a summary and some photographs from our previous retreat:
In these practices each Friday at 5 am IST for 30 minutes online we collectively practice one or more of the following:
Being aware of our body and subtle body
Connecting our Prana to our Body in all parts
Being aware of points / cells in our body from surface to depth
Building loving qualities in our awareness
Developing inner senses to become aware of our body’s substance – inner sight, inner hearing, inner taste, inner touch and inner smell
Holding choice within our body –‘It is not the job of this body to hold on to entanglements’
Learning to turn our awareness within body to open our cells to the Space / Consciousness above our Head
Practice expansion and condensation of our subtle substance – to dissolve limitations and re-center our body within Divine Qualities of Light, Peace, Joy, Love, Flow and Power
Offering the sound ‘AUM’ within body and being with its vibrations as it opens the matter of our body
Connecting our cells to Divine with a chant ‘Unto you oh Lord’
Detecting vibrations of fear, emotional churns and other vital flows to vibrations of Goodness, Change, Harmony and if possible Divine Love
Detecting ingrained memory imprints in body as a sensation across body. Connecting this sensation to Vastness and Light
Transforming past-life times, mineral, plant and animal memory binds in our body
Transforming thoughts to shift its center from past to future vision
Open our eye brow center to above, to receive light and intuition
Connecting to qualities within the cave of our heart – a sacred space
Open to layers of higher consciousness that exist above our head
Discovering pure substance that is self-radiant, lit and appears in soft supple colors in soft supple substance
‘As above so below’ is the formula. Discovering layers of sacred consciousness below our feet
Discovering the point of union above our head and below our feet
