by Sant Kirpal Singh

The Music of the Spheres is so intense and swift that It pulls me up in an instant. ~ Plato

What is the Music of the Spheres?

The Music of the Spheres is a great magnetic Power, and a force that can grip the mind. It is characterized by sweet strains and melodious tunes, which can be heard, and powerful Light which can be seen and witnessed. It is this power and force of Godhead which cannot be comprehended by the senses and can only be realized and experienced in super-sensual planes. It is a life current that pervades the entire creation…

It may be described as “life-impulse” or “conscious-principle.” When It begins to vibrate, It produces melodious sound, which is termed Naam or Shabd or Word. This Sound Current proceeding from the deep silence of the Formless is responsible for all forms and colors, visible and invisible to the naked eye. All life hangs on this life-principle. No life can exist without It.

The Sound-principle is all-pervading; it may or may not be felt, yet It is reverberating from top to toe. It is the Kernel and the Essence and at once both the material and efficient Cause of the endless universes in which this physical earth is but a speck.

It is called variously as Sound, Voice from the Heaven, Music of the Beyond, Word or Harmony, Logos or the Holy Spirit, Call from God, or Heavenly Sound.

This Divine Sound is both the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe. In all religions God is spoken of as the Sound-manifest or Life Principle. It is a current, live and conscious, and has in It the germs of creation. It is because of this link between the Creator and the creation that the spirit or soul of a person can cross over the physical body and traverse the spiritual regions to reach the True Home of our Father.

This Ethereal Music is going on in each individual. In fact, there is no place without It. Its Divine notes can be heard through the grace of some Master of Divine Music or Master-soul.

The body is the Temple of God, for God made man in His own image. But it is only after the spirit, through the process of inversion, gets concentrated between and behind the two eyebrows that one can hear the Divine Melody. This Divine Link is essentially musical in character and has a great magnetic force which pulls the Spirit upward to spiritual realms, as Spirit, Word and God are of the same essence. When like attracts like, the Spirit is irresistibly drawn out of the bodily raiment.

This Sound is in Its fullness in everything, though the measure of Its manifestation may vary from one thing to another. It is even in stones and wood, apparently insensate things. The fact is that all things in Nature are of atoms and atoms are full of energy as the phrase “atomic energy” denotes. It is because of this energy that the atoms are always in a state of motion and as they vibrate, a natural rhythmic sound is produced.

Through The Ages

The ancient Greeks also spoke of the Divine Sound. In the writings of Socrates, we read that he heard within him a peculiar Sound which pulled him irresistibly to higher spiritual realms. Plato spoke of It as the “Music of the Spheres.”

Two thousand years ago, John the Baptist and Christ laid down the Path of the Word or Logos. (The Word is the Sound.)

Madam Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society, has described It as the “Voice of God.” In the Masonic Order we hear of It as the “Lost Word” in search of which the Mason Masters set up their Order.

This Sound Principle is the Real Knowledge of the Rishis of old, the Cult of Eternal Life of Zoroaster, Logos of the Greeks, Tao of the Chinese, Enlightenment of Buddha and Sound-Essence of the philosophers. In the Upanishads we find references to the Harmony of the Beyond. Lord Krishna, long before, was fully conversant with this science. In the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of the world, we read of music and that which is heard.

Why Do We Not Hear the Sound Principle?

Though the Divine Music is ever reverberating in each one of us, we do not hear It. The reason for this is not hard to find. So long as the mind stuff is in a state of perpetual storm and stress, is torn by countless conflicting passions and desires, feeds fat on the food of egotism, and is tossed about on the endless waves of worldly life, it cannot possibly catch the slow and sublime rhythmic vibrations of the subtle Sound, nor acquire any love for It.

The Sublime Sound cannot of course be heard by the physical ears. There is a way for our listening to the Divine Music which can be heard by the inner faculty of transcendental hearing, and this can be trained, developed and pressed into service through the grace of some Master-Soul; for no amount of worldly knowledge, wisdom and ingenuity can help in this. Though science has not yet been able to probe into this mystery, yet it can be resolved and experienced by actual experimentation in the laboratory of the Self with proper instruction and guidance.

Reverse the outward perception of hearing and listen inwardly to the perfectly unified and intrinsic Sound of the mind-essence. ~ Buddha

How Can We Listen To the Sound Principle?

The saints tell us that we can listen to the Sound Principle if we can introvert and stop listening to the outer sounds of the world around us. In other words, we must learn to recede into our own Self and become a Pure Self by releasing the soul from the prison of the exterior life, before we can qualify the Self for Self-realization, which comes by listening to the Sound Current. A reflection with the Sound reveals the Love, Life and Light that is at the back of all creation.

The Music of the Spheres is the very life of our life. It is a part of our being and we cannot do without It even for a single moment. But we cannot contact It unless we rise above body consciousness. Our human body is a receiving set for catching the Sound Current and like a radio, has to be adjusted properly to bring it in tune with the ethereal waves. The Master, at the time of Initiation, connects the spirit within with the All-pervading Sound, and this contact can be developed with practice to any length one may like.

What Are the Benefits of Listening To the Sound Current?

The outer expression of Word has two aspects: Light and Sound. The more contact is achieved, day by day, the more bliss and enchantment within yourself. Naturally, you become more attached inside and less outside.

The result of contacting that eternal Sound or Music of the Spheres is that you become more attached to that higher bliss than to the outside; then you are in the world and yet not of it. This is the first result. Passions do not assail you, because you have more bliss inside: your attention is always drawn by that higher power within you. You will feel that you are in the world and yet out of it. Just as, if you sit by fire, all cold is gone, and when you sit by ice, all heat is gone, similarly, the more you come in contact with the Light and Sound Principle within, the more you will become unattached to the world, and all passions will begin to leave you. When you have that realization in your life-that you are in the world and yet not of it-you take the second step towards the union of the soul with God.

Once we have a direct experience of the inner Light and Sound, we realize that we are not the body but soul. We realize a higher reality within. It is the beginning of our journey to our true Home.

There is a current of Light and Sound that flows out from Creator through the various regions of creation. This divine stream also returns to Creator. If we connect our soul to this current, we can travel on it back to Source.

From the life of Lord Krishna we learn how he once jumped into the River Jamuna, where lived a thousand-headed poisonous snake. Lord Krishna won over this monster with the music from his flute; that is, the Music of the Spheres. It again indicates that to control the serpent-mind there is no other means than the Sound Principle.

If you should in this world bring many thousand of musical instruments together, and all should be tuned in the best manner, 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, 1575-1624, German Christian mystic, theologian

Hazrat Inayat Khan, a modern Sufi mystic, tells us that this creation is nothing but the “Music of God” for It is the outcome or manifestation of His Power. He calls it the intoxicating vintage from the Garden of Heaven and has given an elaborate description of It, as appears from the following account: “All space is filled with the Abstract Sound. The vibrations of this Sound are too fine to be either audible or visible to the material ears or eyes, since it is even difficult for the eyes to see the form and color of the ethereal vibrations on the eternal plane.

The knower of the mystery of the Sound knows the mystery of the Universe. Whosoever has followed the strains of this Sound has forgotten all earthly distinctions and differences; and has reached the same goal of Truth in which all the Blessed Ones of Creation unite. Space is within the body as well as around it; in other words the body is in space and space is in the body. This being the case, the Sound of the Abstract is always going on within, around and about man. Man does not hear It as a rule, because his consciousness is entirely centered in his material existence. Man becomes so absorbed in his experiences in the external world through the medium of the physical body that space, with all its wonders of Light and Sound, appears to him blank . . . The limited volume of earthly sound is so concrete, that it dims the effect of the Sound of the Abstract to the sense of hearing; although in comparison to It the sounds of the earth are like that of a whistle to a drum. When the Abstract Sound is audible, all other sounds become indistinct to the mystic.

The Sound of the Abstract is called Anhad in the Vedas, meaning unlimited sound. The Sufis name It Sarmad, which suggests the idea of intoxication. The word intoxication is here used to signify upliftment, the freedom of the soul from its earthly bondage. Those who are able to hear the Saute Sarmad are relieved from all worries, anxieties, fears and diseases; and the soul is freed from captivity in the senses and in the physical body. The soul of the listener becomes All-pervading Consciousness; and his spirit becomes the battery which keeps the whole Universe in motion. . . .

This Sound develops through ten different aspects because of Its manifestation through the different tubes of the body (Nadis); it sounds like thunder, the roaring of the sea, the jingling of bells, running water, the buzzing of bees, the twittering of sparrows, the Vina, the whistle, or the sound of Conch until it finally becomes Hu the most sacred of all sounds. This Sound Hu is the beginning and end of all sounds, be they from man, bird, beast, or thing.”

The divine music is incessantly going on within ourselves, but the loud senses drown the delicate music, which is unlike and infinitely superior to anything we can perceive with our senses. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Summary of the Insights Concerning Near Death Experiences and Music

The universe was created using the tools of music, harmony, and balance. Everything is kept in place by the all pervading vibration of God. Near-death accounts provide many interesting descriptions of the music that is often heard in the spirit realms. Some of these descriptions are: transcendental, unearthly harmonic beauty, angelic, sublimely beautiful, exquisite harmonies, heavenly, a celestial choir of angels, a tone so sublimely perfect, joyous and beat-less melody, an orchestra of voices, the Music of the Spheres, hymns to God, mystical tones, harmonic perfection, music that transcends all thought, bells and wind chimes, celestial symphony, glorious tones and rhythms and melodies, complicated rhythms with unearthly tones, deeper and more profound than new age music, music that is experienced from within, and music that puts Bach to shame.

In the spirit realm, gardens sing and colors can be heard. It is a realm where light and sound, color and geometrical patterns are all combined into a totality of harmonic perfection. This is music that is on a level that is beyond hearing. It comes from within the very core of our soul. It is like being on a universal wave length that envelops our soul completely. NDE music revelations show the great importance that music plays in the universe, in the spirit realms, our souls and God.

Near Death Experiences and Music

“In 1973, at the age of twenty, I spent five months in a hospital on the brink of death with Crohn’s disease. Throughout those months, I came very close to dying four times. On the last occasion, I had a Near-Death Experience (NDE). Without going into the details, what impressed me the most in that experience was the music, or should I rather say, the sound current I heard while on the Other Side. This incredible sound was harmonious, majestic, and serene and at the same time quite powerful, as if it was the Universe itself breathing. Being one with the Sound, I ‘knew’ I was experiencing the consciousness of the Universe. That event was to change my life.” ~ Gilles Bèdard

“I heard what seemed like millions of little golden bells ringing, tinkling; they rang and rang. Many times since, I’ve heard those bells in the middle of the night. Next I heard humming and then a choir singing. The singing got louder and louder, and it was in a minor key. It was beautiful and in perfect harmony. I also heard stringed instruments.” ~ Lorraine Tutmarc

“Music surrounded me. It came from all directions. Its harmonic beauty unlike earthly vocal or instrumental sounds was totally undistorted. It flowed unobtrusively like a glassy river, quietly worshipful, excitingly edifying, and totally comforting. It provided a reassuring type of comfort much like a protective blanket that whispered peace and love. I had never sensed anything like it. Perhaps angelic would describe it. This music was sounding within my head, not from an eardrum. Obviously it was not airborne. Most unusual to me was the absence of any beat. Then I realized that without time this heavenly music could have no beat which is a measure of time! I was hearing harmonic perfection, undistorted by any interposed medium between me and its source, as heard mind-to-mind …The music around me suddenly seemed louder. I rushed to a nearby tree and grasped its trunk to my ear: it was singing. I lifted my right elbow to my head; it too emitted the same joyous, beatless melody. Excitedly I stopped to pick some flowers, and found them already in my hand. They too were playing the tune.” ~ Richard Eby

“And then I heard the MUSIC. It was a tone so sublimely perfect that remembering it still brings me to tears. I knew then, and know now, that I was hearing the symphony of angels, the song of the universe, what some have called the Music of the Spheres. All thoughts melted in its melody and everything else ceased to be of any importance. I closed my eyes and began to dance, moving to the resonant vibration that coursed through my essence. The melody seemed to issue from a single point and was composed of one verse, a song whose mystical tone my entire being knew and sang. I bathed in its melody as utter joy filled my being, and as the sound washed over my spirit, I felt all confusion purged from my consciousness…I was once more in my magical gown, moving alone in harmony with the Music. In that moment I chose to merge with that self and began to dance. Each step drew me closer to the Light…The Music, the celestial symphony, continued to fill the air with a psalm of Oneness, played on unseen instruments of peace.” ~ Lynnclaire Dennis)

The middle region of the sky, where-in the spirit dwelleth, is radiant with the Music of Light. ~ Kabir

“Traveling through the tunnel, normal cities and towns can be seen on the sides of the tunnel. As you travel further, you become conscious of sounds, at first indistinct rumblings, then music, laughter, and singing of birds. There is more and more light, the colors become very beautiful, and there is the sound of wonderful music. The houses are left behind; ahead there is only a blending of sound and color.” ~ Edgar Cayce

“And the whole garden was singing. The flowers, grass, trees, and other plants filled this place with glorious tones and rhythms and melodies; yet I didn’t hear the music itself. I could feel it somehow on a level beyond my hearing. As my grandmother and I stopped a moment to marvel at the magnificent scene, I said to myself, ‘Everything here seems to be singing,’ which was woefully inadequate to describe what I felt. We simply don’t have language that adequately communicates the beauty of that world.” ~ RaNelle Wallace

“This time we were audience to a choir of angels singing. Angels were totally outside my reality at the time, yet somehow I knew these beautiful beings to be angelic. They sang the most lovely and extraordinary music I had ever heard. They were identical, each equally beautiful.” ~ Dr. Allan Kellehear

“I could see all the energy that this solar system generates, and it is an incredible light show! I could hear the Music of the Spheres. Our solar system, as do all celestial bodies, generates a unique matrix of light, sound and vibratory energies. Advanced civilizations from other star systems can spot life as we know it in the universe by the vibratory or energy matrix imprint. It is child’s play. The Earth’s Wonder Child (human beings) make an abundance of sound right now, like children playing in the backyard of the universe.” ~ Mellen-Thomas Benedict

“The stars began to change shapes before my eyes. They began to dance and deliberately draw themselves into intricate designs and colors which I had never seen before. They moved and swayed to a kind of rhythm or music with a quality and beauty I had never heard and yet … remembered. A melody that humans could not possibly have composed, yet was so totally familiar and in complete harmony with the very core of my being. As if it were the rhythm of my existence, the reason for my being. The extravagance of imagery and coloration pulsed in splendid unison with the magnificent ensemble. I felt completely at peace, tranquilized by the vision and the melodic drone. I could have stayed in this place for eternity with this pulse of love and beauty beating throughout my soul. The love poured into me from all corners of the universe.” ~ Virginia Rivers

“Turning back to the interior of the temple, I saw that creative activities were taking place in different areas. There were a number of individuals sitting at easels painting, and I saw one man playing a flute-like instrument that emitted the sweetest of sounds. Farther on, dancers moved with ethereal grace, performing with a lightness impossible to the physical human form. As I watched in utter delight, I became aware that the musical background for this visual feast came from what I would call a celestial choir – an orchestra of voices creating heavenly music for the dance. This Music of the Spheres was indeed singing the praises of the Creator.” ~ Jan Price

“At the time I felt the presence of that extreme love I could also hear beautiful music. I’m not sure if it was instrumental music, but somehow I think it was more massed voices giving that sound. But there were no words – it was more just a resonance of sound.” ~ Janet

“When we first arrived in the Seventh Region we were certain that we had reached our eternal home. So in tune were we with it that there was not even a hint of internal conflict. We could not conceive of any higher order of life than here, from where we were certain the Music of the Spheres originated. Gradually we learn that there are higher realms of life, and we are in yet another stage of growth.” ~ Harvey Green

“Permeating the colors and patterns was sound, countless octaves of sound. It was as though the colors could be heard. It reminded me of bagpipes. Filling the entire region were the droning sounds. Octave upon octave of invigorating, vitalizing sound. It was very subtle, practically imperceptible but immense, it seemed to reach to infinity. Superimposed on this vast life-giving hum, was the melody, which was created by the individual sound of every living thing. Light and sound, color and geometrical patterns were all combined into a totality of harmonic perfection.” ~ John Star

“Out-of-body realms are usually areas of intense experience where the dominant reality is that of light, sound, vibration, motion or emotion. For example, the soul may sense a powerful vibration or sound that causes them to be caught up in that energy. Sometimes these sounds or vibrations propel them at a great speed through a tunnel. They may experience the feeling of inner sounds or vibrations but not the experience of movement and acceleration. Often, such experiences involve hearing spiritual music or sounds, and can be quite ecstatic. These inner sounds along with inner lights can sometimes act as a means of transition between waking experience and some formed inner world. Sounds which occur during conscious transitions out of the body are usually very powerful, and may result in the obliteration of the body image. Some of the sounds which occur are of a spiritual or mystical nature rather than transitional sounds that carry the traveler to a different place. These “higher” spiritual sounds are of a heavenly nature and are ecstatic beyond description. Some sample sounds one may encounter are the sounds of a speeding train, a loud buzzing, a flute, or the sounds of nature like the roar of a waterfall. These sounds or vibrations are of such intensity that they seem to pass right through the body, overpowering the other senses.” ~ Robert Monroe

“Everything began to become peaceful and a type of music without sound played that enveloped me totally – through every cell.” ~ Kurt Hilden

“Just as the colors of the rainbow show the effects of the different vibrations of light, and the melodies on the piano show the effect of the different notes, so, too, does the entire universe contain various octaves, or rates of vibration. These universal harmonics comprise the different levels of existence.” ~ Jerry Gross

“Everything in the spirit world is kept in place by an all pervading Master-Vibration (God), which prevents aging. That’s why things don’t get dirty, or wear out, and why everything looks so bright and new. This is why heaven is eternal. Our thoughts in heaven are vibrations which are controlled by the Master-Vibration. It neutralizes all negative thoughts and lets you think only the good thoughts, such as love, freedom and happiness. After death people gravitate into homogeneous groups according to the rate of their soul’s vibrations much like throwing a small pebble into a threshing machine, it would go into the box because of its proper size and weight. We are sorted by the high or low vibrations of our soul. Everyone goes where they fit in! High vibrations indicate love and spiritual development, while low vibrations indicate debasement and evil. All one has to do is to love so unselfishly that their soul-vibrations rise high enough to fit into heaven.” ~ Arthur Yensen

“I am still utterly amazed at what I find here. Utterly amazed! There is love and there is harmony. There is music that transcends all thought. Then I became conscious of different sounds of bells ringing and music. I realized that I had been hearing these bells and music while I was out in space. In the midst of this sound I became aware of the fact that at the present time I may see and I may observe, but my consciousness will have to expand further before I may know how all of this takes place, and why.” ~ Margaret Tweddell

Edgar Cayce’s Music Revelations

In the beginning, God desired to self-expression, and desired companionship. Therefore, the cosmos and souls were projected. The cosmos was built with music, arithmetic, and geometry; harmony, system, and balance. The building blocks were the life essence. It was a power sent out from God, which by changing the length of its wave and the rate of its vibration became a pattern of differing forms, substance, and movement. This created the law of diversity which supplied endless designs for the pattern. God played on this law of diversity as a person plays on a piano, producing melodies and arranging them in a symphony.

Each design carried within it the plan of its evolution, which was to be accomplished by change. This corresponds to the sound of a note struck on a piano. The sounds of several notes unite to make a chord; chords in turn become phrases; phrases become melodies; melodies intermingle and move back and forth, across and between and around each other, to make a symphony. The music ends as it began, leaving emptiness, but between the beginning and the finish there has been glorious beauty and a great experience.

“The sub-atomic particles we see in nature, the quarks, the electrons, are nothing but musical notes on a tiny vibrating string. What is physics? Physics is nothing but the laws of harmony that you can write on vibrating strings. What is chemistry? Chemistry is nothing but the melodies that you can play on interacting vibrating strings. What is the universe? The universe is a symphony of vibrating strings. And then what is the mind of God that Albert Einstein eloquently wrote about the last thirty years of his life? We now for the first time in history have a candidate for the mind of God. It is cosmic music resonating through eleven dimensional hyperspace. We are nothing but melodies. We are nothing but cosmic music played out on vibrating strings.” ~ Michio Kaku

“This Creative Current, filling all space, may be likened to the electromagnetic waves of the radio. The receiving set is the human body, more accurately, the astral body within the physical. The receiving set, standing on your table, simply has to be “tuned in” in order to receive the Music. Each individual man or woman is a receiving set. As soon as he is tuned in, he is ready to receive “the pure white music”. It then remains only to keep the instrument in proper order to go on enjoying this melodious band. It takes a little time to develop the inner hearing. The entire body, and more particularly the mind and astral body, must be cleaned and purified and then attuned to the higher vibrations. After that, the Music comes clearly. When one begins to hear it, he is filled with a great joy; for there is nothing in the world to be compared with it.” ~ Julian Johnson