The Word

The Word

The Bible speaks of The Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

In Genesis (1:3) “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

The Vedas speak of the primordial sound Aum from which the universe arises.

Panini (6.1.84) said that one word properly understood gives both liberation and achievement in life. This points to the value of mantra and the power of sound to lead us to liberation via effortless meditation.

Everything is everywhere. Some describe the universe as holographic – everything is contained in every part. But it’s more than that – everything contains not just everything else but more importantly, the wholeness that is more than all of it. Everything contains source – it is born of and exists in source. Source is everywhere present.

“Know That by knowing which nothing remains to be known.” Bhagavad Gita 7.2

“The sovereign secret and the supreme purifier.” Bhagavad Gita 9.2

“Know Thyself” inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi was also attributed to Socrates and Pythagoras, some of the founders of western thought.

In other word(s), the value of the Word is found throughout time and the world.
Davidya

Last Updated on June 16, 2016 by

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13 Comments

  1. zen pig

    good morning Dave-san! The Word. wow. always puzzled by this. there are many different cultures that have stories of gods or beings “singing things into existence” all over the world. even the idea of knowing someone’s true name, seems powerful. i have no direct experience of any of this, and cannot relate this to my practice as it stands right now, but i keep an open, “I don’t know” mind.

    the closest i can get to this, is the idea of Will. to say that Will is an illusion does not seem completely correct, but it is not what we think it is. for me, and i could be wrong, this Will is subtle, but it seems that little mind has not control over it, but little mind wants to take credit for controlling it. (if you get my meaning). kind of like this path of Knowing. it is very true, that there is nothing i can do, yet, there is a very deep doing. when i started to meditate, i did not make a decision one day to start sitting. i just started to sit one day, and did not stop. so somewhere, there was this “will” or maybe the word, or god head that did this, but this little me did nothing. someday i might stop sitting, have no idea, but lots of folks would look at what i do, and say, “you have a lot of will power to sit like you do” haaaaaaaaa! little mind loves this, but little mind did not have a dam thing to do with it. it came from somewhere else. maybe this is like, or is the same as the Word. hmmmmmmmm. interesting.

    1. Hi ZP
      I write more in terms of intention than will as will can imply force. Some translate old references to focus or concentrated intention accordingly. It’s a classic ego control meme, as you describe.

      And yes, much of our life is moved by grace or subtle intention but mind takes credit and says I did this, even though it noticed after the fact. (laughs) Spiritual practice can be a lot that way. We think we’re doing something when we’re being done through.

      To understand the Word idea, what we experience of the world arises in a quick process – fine vibration (aka sound or voice) which stirs intelligence creating subtle (sacred) geometry, which structures fields which structure form.

      You might enjoy this article. Notice the “concentration of attention”. I sometimes talk about attention and intention being the 2 factors behind all experience.
      https://davidya.ca/2013/08/07/foundations/

      The other part here is we have a personal focus, relating everything to me. What’s actually taking place is all cosmic with only a point of focus within that, a unique point of observation. When we step out of that box, we begin to see the larger picture.

  2. David

    I don’t know if this has anything to do with what you’re talking about here but during meditation I use to experience negative energy when I realized my attention was on thoughts and not on the Cosmic. Now, I don’t because as you say, ‘Source is everywhere present’! But now I have a question. In my writing just now I see that there are 3: Attention, thoughts or mind, and Cosmic. Can you comment on that? Thanks.

    1. Hi David
      The first part, not exactly. This is more about the vibrations that give rise to our experiences rather than our relationship with them you’re describing.

      To understand the dynamics of consciousness you may enjoy this article:
      https://davidya.ca/2014/08/09/awareness-becomes-self-aware/
      It describes the 3 parts of it. Attention is where the observer is observing.

      This is also taking place at multiple scales or layers. Globally as infinite awareness through to more locally as you observing here, from your perspective.

      The cosmic is a term one of my teachers used for Atman and the primary field of creation within which the universes arise. It is grand scale and profoundly abstract but very knowable in the later stages of spiritual development.

      Mind is a field that arises within the observer/ consciousness into which thoughts arise. We might call them objects of the mind just as your computer is an object of the physical level. I describe a few ways of modelling these layers but favour the kosha model.
      https://davidya.ca/2014/03/28/the-energy-bodies/

  3. Amaryllis

    Interesting. I have been thinking about the value and use of mantras, after reading your posts on effortless meditation. I have tried using a mantra, but doing so seems to require more effort than just sitting and being absorbed into silence/resting as awareness (which also includes gently bringing straying attention back to the infinite field, if attention wanders). I wonder if I have just not understood how to use a mantra (having had no training), or whether perhaps individual proclivity has a role to play in what meditation leads most easily to absorption.

    1. Hi Amaryllis
      Yes, you also need to learn correct technique and ideally correct experience of that technique through right instruction. While I’ve talked about it in various posts, I realized I hadn’t explicitly stated it on the main Effortless article so I’ve added an update at the bottom.
      https://davidya.ca/2009/07/17/effortless-meditation/

      Meditation is a key practice for developing both consciousness and clarity so it’s important not to pick something randomly and experiment.

      If in your own practice you are already aware of awareness and can settle into it easily, you may not need anything new. Many people don’t have that and attempt to engage it with things like mindfulness. But if there isn’t enough clear awareness, they are only actually engaging the mind, not awareness.

      If you are settling into actual awareness, there should be deep settledness, periodic waves of happiness when you settle into or come out of pure awareness (and cross the bliss body), and you may notice occasionally that the attention settles so deeply that the breath pauses for a time. Of course, it helps if you are rested.

  4. Readers of this article may be interested in the 4 levels of Speech, an old Vedic idea.

    https://davidya.ca/2014/04/21/the-four-levels-of-speech/

    If you learn something like a guru puja, it is learned to be performed on all levels of speech simultaneously. Spoken, heard, seen and silence all together.

    The Seen or Pashyanti level is the most potent. It is the level the pranava (aum) functions on, the level of our universe becoming, and the power of the Word in this article.

    But that level is not usually seen until the silence level is established. Without that, the seer is not yet stable enough for the fine values to be sustained. The resolution is too fine.

  5. Amaryllis

    Hi David, thank you for the additional commentary. Your pointers will help me discern and understand my experience more clearly. At the moment, I have no understanding, and no direction to my practice. I really appreciate your reply 🙂

  6. Walip

    thank You for the article, David, and my sweet wishes for a New Year of Expansion 🙂

    Would You please grant me to bring this fascinating topic down to the level of the individual creator-created dynamic ?

    I wonder about the extent to which we are capable of aligning with the creative power of the Word.
    It is my (very limited) experience that to the degree we operate in an ‘unconflicted’ (*), coherent way (thinking, feeling and acting in alignment with superconscious intent), we are able to exercise dominion of what enfolds in our reality.

    I was told that “Abracadabra” is an Aramaic phrase meaning “I create as I speak”.

    Would You be so kind to elaborate a bit on how to develop this ability in a benevolent way, moved by Grace rather then moved by egoic gratification ? ( as all this can get quite tricky I reckon… )

    I wish to augment my creative abilities and wish to understand better how ‘my’ Word – or ideally the Word that comes through me – is at the Source of what I manifest ( or not ).

    Thank YOU so much…

    (*) I lend the term from Joseph Chilton Pearce from his book ‘The Biology of Transendence’

    1. Hi Walip
      Thanks. You too. Interesting about Abracadabra. You may have noticed the link to the 4 levels of speech a couple of comments up.

      The topic is a bit complex because it depends on your stage of development as to how you see and relate to the world. And that affects this relationship.

      To simplify a bit, we can talk in terms of 3 levels – the individual, nature or the universe, and the divine or source.

      Most typically, we first learn to align with nature. Then we learn to align with the divine. The trick though is if we try to do this as an individual, it will be difficult and take years of carefully guided practice.

      However, if we go for “highest first” and seek Self Realization, then alignment with nature and the divine will come in the process, as an effect. As we become more connected, everything is connected.

      And yes – it is those internal conflicts and discord which gets in the way of seeing and being in sync. When we get that noise out of the way, we naturally fall into alignment automatically. I’ve written several articles on the subject here.

      However, I would suggest that the idea we are a separate individual with unique dominion is somewhat misleading- it’s the tricky bit. We are never apart from the whole. We are simply a unique vantage point within the whole, reflecting on itself. Our reality and everything in it comes only from and in the whole.

      This is not to say we don’t have a responsibility to act and express here – only that we reinforce what is whole rather than separate.

      The best way to develop in all ways is through samadhi. This is connecting to source. For that, I suggest an effortless meditation. It can also be useful to supplement that with healing modalities, culturing gratitude and so forth.

      You can search the terms for articles or use Key Posts tab, Practices section.

      As for the word that comes through you, it depends on what is triggering it. Is your speech driven by desires or unresolved emotions? Or is it nature speaking through you? Or the divine? Nature will tend to be more ongoing and we can check by results – are our actions smooth and supported? Or are there barriers? The divine is more efficient and will express as required. Mixed in can also be actions designed to purify, to wind down old karma. These are resolving rather than creating.

      Hope that helps a bit.

  7. celeste

    I am still confused by the silence and the primordial sound. I hear a hum when I am out backpacking in remote places. I have felt this might be a primordial sound. I hear it strongly in Sedona AZ and am now hearing it in my bedroom. Because of hearing this, I rarely feel that I have that deep connection with Silence anymore.

    Do you have any insight into this?

    1. Hi Celeste
      There isn’t “a” primordial sound. It is the, the sound of creation becoming before it differentiates.

      There are several ways this might be heard or felt, including like a sound akin to “ringing” in the ears (a high pitched tone), as a constant middle tone, as a deep rumble or as a fine vibration felt in the body. It may also be heard on its own level more like the deep classic tone, Aum.

      Depends on where we are in relation to it. But it is constant and even as creation is continuously becoming in every moment.

      There are a few reasons you might hear tones or hums. Being out in nature or in quiet may make it more clear. But I would suggest this is just a simple and common experience. It is not something to try to hold on to or give undue weight to.

      If you notice it’s there, fine. But leave it at that.

      The silence is a different thing operating at a deeper level. If it is overshadowed by a tone, it’s not well established yet or too much is being given to the tone.

      Occasionally, a tone comes up as a form of purification. When the process is complete, it will fade out again. So again, nothing to try and culture or hold on to.

      Hope that’s more clear.

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