Sound and Light Within

Mystics tell us that when we begin the inner journey we will experience the various lights and sounds that mark the way. These lights and sounds are not physical. They exist in the inner regions and are manifestations of the light and music that issue from our own soul. Since the soul is of the same essence as the Lord, whose expression is at once the primal divine light and the holy Name or Word, the soul also expresses itself as light and sound on the inner planes. While our attention is trapped by the mind and senses, we cannot perceive this sound and light; but once we begin the inner journey, we shed the limitations of body and mind and experience the soul in its true state.

The Jewish mystic, Rabbi Abraham Abulafia, describes experiences of light and sound during his own practice of meditation. He says that light seemed to be issuing from a source within himself, and that after seeing the inner light he heard “the divine speech.” And Obadyah Maimonides, a Jewish Egyptian mystic, wrote:

When thou remainest alone with thy soul after having subdued thy passions, a Gate will open before thee through which thou wilt contemplate wonders. When thy five external senses come to rest, thine internal senses will awaken and thou wilt behold a resplendent light emanating from the splendour of Reason. Thou wilt perceive mighty and awesome voices which leave a man bewildered.

The lights and sounds we experience within help us on our spiritual journey. Like a magnet, the Word, or Shabd, pulls our soul upward toward the Lord. The sound emanating from the Word helps us find the direction to our true home; its light helps us stay on course and complete the journey. The soul’s power of seeing is called nirat by the Indian mystics, and its power of hearing is called surat. Nirat sees the radiance of the Shabd and surat hears its sound. God has put the sound and light within us to help us find his inner holy of holies, as the Bible calls the highest region.
_{The Holy Name}