ringing sound
That Ringing Sound
“The audible life stream is the cardinal, central fact in the science of the masters … the supreme fact and factor of the entire universe … the very essence and life of all things … less known than any other important fact of nature, yet it is the one determining factor of all nature.” — Dr. Julian Johnson, ‘Path of the Masters’
Got Sound? I certainly hope so. If you are reading this, then you definitely do, but you may not know that you do … unless you have been medically diagnosed with a condition called tinnitus.
For those of you that do not know what that is, Webster’s dictionary defines tinnitus as, “any ringing or buzzing in the ear not resulting from an external stimulus.”
The medical community reports that approximately 20% of the people in the USA suffer from tinnitus, which means over 60 million of us. Wow, that seems like quite a lot, but how serious is it really? Well, those reports say things that bring it on are allergies, head injuries, loud noises, medications, infections, tumors and diseases. Treatments are offered to treat those symptoms, but they are not completely sure what causes it. There are four main treatments currently available; prescription drugs, maskers (devices one wears that produce soft sounds to drown out the inner sounds), behavioral modification training (learning not to listen to the inner sounds) and surgery in the most chronic cases of all.
The Sound of Silence
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
“The sound is the source of all manifestation … The knower of the mystery of sound knows the mystery of the whole universe.”
“Learn to listen to the voice within yourself.”
“In the beginning was OM …”
“For in the beginning of the times so did we all share in the Holy Stream of Sound that gave birth to all creation.”
“The kingdom of heaven is within you.”
“The Tao is the source of all things … existed before heaven and earth … eternal … pervades everywhere…”
“May the force be with you.”
The Greek philosopher/mathematician Pythagoras called it “Music of the Spheres”, another Greek philosopher Heraclitus called it “Logos” (which means both sound and word), the Bible calls it “The Word” and “Voice of Many Waters”, the Upanishads call it “Shabda Brahman” (the cosmic sound of Lord Brahma), the Vedas call it “Anahad” (unlimited tone), the Sufis call it “Saute Surmad” (the tone that fills the cosmos), the Sikhs call it “Nam” or “Naam” (name or spiritual sound), and the Hindus also call it “AUM” and the Buddhists “OM”. Some Native American traditions call it “Song of the Creator”, in reference to the force that created life and sustains the universe.
A Longer Wheel
“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.” – William Blake
Being our first year at college was certainly the last thing on our minds that weekend night. After having partook of the latest entertainment chemical mix, the four of us guys drove around like crazy. It should be logical that flying high and speeding around in a hot car don’t mix. But having a flat tire on top of that didn’t bode well for the rest of evening.
The first thing we did was not to look for the jack, but to lie back in a field looking up at the stars. I had never seen the night glow like that, nor the stars dance so much. And yes, on top of all that, it happened once again.
As I flowed into the ebb and flow mixture of the nightly lights and spheres, the ripping pressure in my chest pulled me away. And the rising sensation totally changed my perspective. My gyroscoping point of view shot fear throughout my body. My physical body, which I was no longer a part of. Now I found my ‘self’ shooting towards the heavens, completely out of and away from my body. And I heard that damn ringing sound again. Oh hell.
The Lower High Way
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” – Joseph Campbell
What a drag high school could be. Or maybe it was just school in general. Or maybe it was because by the time I reached high school I had already been to six different schools. Six schools in nine years, through eighth grade (counting kindergarten). And then high school came around, and I was in three schools in four years. So a total of nine different schools in my 13 years of public education. Yeah, that was probably it. Not much stability in that. And then add to that that I was a shy kid, so not much else for me to be but a loner. But I got used to that, even though I was in a large family. So, as the oldest of seven kids, I pretty much kept to myself. But oddly enough, I got good grades in school, but looking back now I think it was because it was too easy. I rarely felt challenged, and I just floated through with not a lot of effort.
My main escape was my own imagination. And boy could I put that into overdrive. At eleven and twelve I remember hording comic books and going into the closet with a flashlight, closing the closet and reading comic book after comic book. And flying away with my heroes to other worlds. And no one in family really knowing where I was. But then by the time I was 14, I found a Playboy magazine and everything changed. Even, of course, the direction of my imagination.
Floating Away
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
When I was about six years old, I think, a series of odd experiences overtook my small life. And at that time, made life much larger than I thought it ever could be. I flew, no popped, right out of my body. Not once, but numerous times. Say what?
Now at this time, I had no idea what an OOBE (out-of-body-experience) was. Hey, I was six, I barely knew what the hell an IBE (in-body-experience) was. So now I’m supposed to deal with flying around my room above my body, all over the damn place? At this point, I just wanted my mommy! Waa!!
And yes, there she was down with my body trying to comfort me. As I looked down at her from one the corners in the ceiling of my bedroom. I was sick and had a high fever, and she was trying to help me. But hey, mommy, I’m up here!
And why did I see everything from an exaggerated fish-eye type lens perspective? Wow, this was tripping and I didn’t even know what tripping was. All I knew is I didn’t like it. Then all of a sudden I was back in my body. Oh wow, no wonder I got out. I feel like crap. I was sick all right.