If you have been reading these posts over the course of the last year or so, you may have come to notice that as much about sound this is, it’s less about the therapeutic benefits but more about how we establish ourselves in the world and sound as a conduit for expanding one’s consciousness. Nada Yoga, is the yoga of sound. It is harmony in balance, where the song of the bird gives us peace and the cry of a fox brings us sorrow. We seek balance with the natural world and within the practice, we unveil the language of Mother Earth…as we truly begin to hear what she is saying.
We are not separate from these sounds. We often feel these sounds exist outside of us, yet there is a relationship with sound. In this, we must understand the sound is given to us. So then, sound as an offering can be received with gratitude for what they are or disregarded for we don’t understand the manner of how to receive them. The journey is to witness all sound as gifts, and your voice as the essence of your being, akin to a flower giving scent…we give words and music. This language is that of true art.
The maddening now ensues, for once you truly begin to listen and hear…. you can never turn it off. Every sound becomes a relationship with your subconscious and the perpetual act of self-inquiry follows. It is exhausting to embark within self-inquiry all the time, yet is more advantageous to the soul than the act of ignorance.
I am reluctant to say favorite, but the most intriguing sound within nature to me, is the oncoming storm. The storm from a distance that moves towards you. The onset harmony of the streak of lightening matching with the sound of thunder, the perfect balance of light and power. Each moment they move closer and closer to meet, and even when they seem to match, we know there is a space between sound and light…. a place to grow inquiry of what is and what will be.
Then comes the wind, the harbinger of change. It takes the water and creates chaos and mayhem. It throws the water in every direction and collects the earth to distribute it to new places…allowing the evolution of the natural world to continue. The cliché metaphor of the consuming storm has been seen for a long time, but do we truly use these sounds? Can you bear witness to the oncoming storm within you? What does it bring and how will it reshape your inner landscape?
And just like that, the storm departs just as it arrives. Leaving its wake of chaos… but more so the beauty it leaves. For water is that which gives color to the world, it gives life like a tree grows leaves.
Within the arms of eternity, I find comfort in the company of storms. I hear friends speaking in the distance, above the mountains, speaking a language foreign yet familiar. For this is not a storm, it’s an alluring song of dance and beauty. The unveiling of natural order and when one embarks on sound as a journey to enlightenment it becomes balance, it brings about understanding of the storm within. As we all at some point must rage to create growth. We must see chaos and tragedy as the inception points of great change within ourselves. We can use rage and anger, without hate to invoke a change. The great storm of life will die for all of us, but how we weather the storm will determine our power within the world. We grow up with storms and they follow us all our life. It is time to listen to them. More so, it is time to act upon the lesson they give us.
It’s funny that in life, the ones we remain closest to in life, we often disregard, or their lessons are the most challenging to hear. That which has been with us the longest we sometimes cannot see. Storms have followed us our entire lives, but most have never even introduced themselves. True friends give without expectation and nature has given us our lives. A storm is an angel, giving life.
That is what I hear when the storm moves over the gap and into the valley. I do not hear thunder; I hear life itself, creating itself.