Value of Naad

Meditationtime Forum Post

Date:  Posted 3 years before May 23, 2016

MiBeloved 3 years ago

From LinkedIn-------Colleen wrote:

I remember as a little girl, when it was very quiet, hearing a sound that would most easily be compared to going outside on a summer's evening, and hearing the collective sounds of the Earth, teaming with life. But, the sound of which I speak is softer and more pleasant, and has qualities of both pipes and strings. My awareness returns to it occasionally, but I always thought of it as the sound of life.

Does it help us to know that rainbows are formed by the prismatic effect of sunlight through raindrops? Or, is it enough to be enthralled by the beauty of the rainbow experience? Maybe it helps to understand that sound waves enter the ears only to be translated into electrical impulses carried by the auditory nerve to the brain receptors. But maybe some of the electrical impulses originate within us. It would still be interpreted as sound. On the other hand, maybe it doesn't matter at all. The important thing might be what it has come to mean to us.

What does Naad Sound mean to you?

MiBeloved's Response:

This is naad sound. It is used by yogis primarily as an anchor point before going into trance states and also when returning from trance states. It is also yielding of trance states (samadhi) itself.

It is used as a mantra by some yogis, so that instead of having to say a sound physically or mentally, they accept this causeless sound as the mantra, as the focus for consciousness.

When one does pranayama which is the 4th part of the ashtanga yoga system, one finds that the naad sound has several levels, some deeper than others, some richer than others. Some levels feel like vibration food source where the yogi is relieved of the need for excitements from the material world.

The shallower levels of naad can be monotonous. Therefore to really appreciate it one has to go to deeper levels, either by doing deep into naad or by somehow getting the subtle body to jump to a higher plane of awareness.

These above neither are nor recommendations. This is just information to give some idea of how yogis use naad.

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As great a person as Krishna recommended and described naad to Uddhava. It is also known as pranava which is the proper word for it, as compared to Om which is not the more precise word for it.

The big value of naad which I discovered is the relief for finding a shelter for the core self when one is doing the higher meditation practice of samyama. But there is another secret value which is that one becomes addicted to transcendental sattvic moods and one loses the attachments to the sensual excitements of the subtle body.

What is samyama?

This is when you try to reach a higher level of consciousness, a deity or a higher environment. So from this end you make the effort to reach there and sometimes you do, and sometimes you do not. The yogi knows honestly if he is really getting somewhere or if he is just imagining that he is getting somewhere.

So when doing this one has to have an anchor point. Okay, there are three factors here.

The core-self of the yogi.

The distance between that core-self and the other higher level or person.

And lastly the other dimension, deity or level of awareness.

But the yogi begins from within the mind, which is the head of the subtle body. Brain means head of physical body and similarly mind means head of subtle body. So from within the mind, the yogi tries to reach out to that chosen focus, whatever it is wherever it may be. Even if it is within the psyche, still there is psychic distance there, or there is accomplishment distance.

But where is the yogi located in the mind, which is just space, just existential environment.

Here is where naad is a winner because if the yogi can anchor to naad since it is continuous and trouble free, it is reliable as a base point from which to reach whatever is the objective. It is always there. It is free, like a free airport from which to launch your spacecraft.

There are other psychic objects in the mind but they are unreliable. In fact Patanjali Guru-Maharaj has said to abandon them (yogah citta vritti nirodhah).

Many people give arbitrary meanings for naad but Patanjali tied the meaning of it to the deity who he said was the Ishvara, the Lord of the creation. He did not give the name of the person. The connection between that person and naad is given by Patanjali like this:

Chapter 1

Verse 26

स पूर्वेषामपि गुरुः कालेनानवच्छेदात्॥२६॥

sa eṣaḥ pūrveṣām api guruḥ kālena anavacchedāt

sa = sah – He; eṣaḥ – this particular person; pūrveṣām – of those before, previous authorities, the ancient teachers; api – even; guruḥ – the spiritual teacher; kālena – by time; anavacchedāt – unconditioned.

He, this particular person being unconditioned by time, is the guru even of the ancient teachers, the previous authorities.

Verse 27

तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः॥२७॥

tasya vācakaḥ praṇavaḥ

tasya – of him; vācakaḥ – what is denoted or named; praṇavaḥ – the sacred syllable āuṁ (Oṁ).

Of Him, the sacred syllable āuṁ (Oṁ) is the designation.

Verse 28

तज्जपस्तदर्थभावनम्॥२८॥

tajjapaḥ tadarthabhāvanam

taj = tat – that sound; japaḥ – murmuring; tadarthabhāvanam = tat = that + artha – value + bhāvanam – with deep feelings.

That sound is repeated, murmured constantly for realizing its meaning.

Verse 29

ततः प्रत्यक्चेतनाधिगमोऽप्यन्तरायाभावश्च॥२९॥

tataḥ pratyakcetana adhigamaḥ api

antarāya abhāvaḥ ca

tataḥ – thence, what is resulting; pratyak – backwards, inwards, in the opposite direction; cetana – sense consciousness; adhigamaḥ – accomplishment; api – also; antarāya – obstacle; abhāvaḥ – not existing; ca – and.

As a result there is an inwardness of the sense consciousness and the disappearance of obstacles to progress.

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