Aum/Amen
Thanks to Diane for pointing out that some people actually may have tinnitus.
I’ve been hearing a ringing sound in my ears ever since I can remember.
Many people who also hear it worry that they have tinnitus. Wikipedia says:
Tinnitus is the hearing of sound when no external sound is present.[1] While often described as a ringing, it may also sound like a clicking, hiss or roaring.[2] Rarely, unclear voices or music are heard.[3] The sound may be soft or loud, low pitched or high pitched and appear to be coming from one ear or both.[2] Most of the time, it comes on gradually.[3] In some people, the sound causes depression or anxiety and can interfere with concentration.[2]
In the course of studying terrestrial sages on enlightenment, I came across explanations which identified the ringing as the sound of the cosmic motor, Aum, the music of the spheres.
Let me first establish its identity with Aum, an aspect of the Mother, and then look at what effect it has.
Paramahansa Yogananda went into most detail on Aum/Amen, the creative universal vibration, in his series, The Second Coming of Christ:
“God is the Word or Om or Holy Ghost or Cosmic Vibration or Cosmic Energy. God is Cosmic Sound resulting from the Cosmic Energy and Cosmic Vibration. God’s first manifestation is the Word or Intelligent Cosmic Vibrating Sound.” (1)
“This Amen is the faithful witness in the beginning of creation — that is, all vibrating creation is accompanied by the Cosmic Sound of Amen or Om or the Word or Holy Ghost, which is the first vibrating manifestation of God.” (2)
Listening to this sound in meditation is one pathway to Self-Realization, Yogananda tells us:
“[One] hears the sound of Holy Ghost [Aum] when all bodily and astral sounds cease. Then, by deeper meditation on this sound, by higher processes learned from the Guru, he can be one with the sound and ‘touch’ it.
“Then, after touching or feeling it, by still higher methods, the spiritual aspirant will find his consciousness vibrating simultaneously in his body and in several continents. As he progresses further by deeper and longer meditation, he will find his consciousness vibrating simultaneously in his body, in the earth, the planets, the universes, and in every particle of matter.” (3)
On another occasion, he added:
“When the Yogi … listens to cosmic vibration, his mind is diverted from the physical sounds of matter outside his body to the circulatory sounds of the vibrating flesh. Then his consciousness is diverted from the vibrations of the body to the musical vibrations of the astral body.
“Then his consciousness wanders from the vibrations of the astral body to the vibrations of consciousness in all atoms. Then the consciousness of the Yogi listens to the Holy Ghost or Cosmic Sound emanating from all atoms.
“This is the way the ordinary consciousness should be baptized or expanded into Christ consciousness through the expanding power of the Holy Ghost, or the all-spreading ‘Aum-vibrating-sound’ heard in meditation.” (4)
Jesus knew it:
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the [Holy] Spirit saith unto the churches…. These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.” (5)
The ascended master Hilarion, through Mabel Collins, described it:
“Look for it and listen to it first in your own heart. At first you may say: ‘It is not there; when I search I find only discord.’ Look deeper.
“If again you are disappointed, pause and look deeper again. There is a natural melody, an obscure fount in every human heart. It may be hidden over and utterly concealed and silenced — but it is there.” (5)
Here is Theosophist Annie Besant on it:
“The source from which a universe proceeds is a manifested Divine Being, to whom in the modern form of the Ancient Wisdom the name of Logos, or Word, has been given. The name is drawn from Greek philosophy, but perfectly expresses the ancient ideas, the Word which emerges from the Silence, the Voice, the Sound, by which the worlds come into being. “(6)
Now yogi Swami Satyeswarananda:
“‘The Word was God’ means the sound was God. This Sound is the Inner Sound OM, AUM, Amen.” (7)
Sri Ramakrishna illustrated how it could be a pathway to union with God. He called it the “Sound Brahman [God].” He taught his disciple, Swami Brahmananda, to meditate upon it:
“One day, in the course of his teaching, Sri Ramakrishna spoke about the manifestation of Brahman as sound — the Logos. later, when I sat for meditation I took this as my subject, and it was not long before the sound Brahman was revealed to me.” (8)
Now let’s fast forward to our sources today. In 2014, I asked the Divine Mother if she was Aum, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. She replied:
Steve Beckow: Mother, you’re also known as the Word of God, Aum, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and the noise of many waters. …
DM: Yes, I am … the voice crying in the wilderness. (9)
The ringing in our ears is the sound of that voice crying in the wilderness.
Archangel Michael also touched on the matter when discussing how he makes his presence known. I asked him in 2013 if he signalled his presence with a high-pitched ringing in the ears.
Steve: Is a loud, high-pitched ringing the sign of an overlighting presence?
Archangel Michael: Yes.
S: Oh, I thought that was the sound of the cosmic motor [Aum, the Divine Mother, the Word of God].
AAM: It is the cosmic motor but it is the cosmic motor tapping you on the shoulder and saying “We’re here.” (10)
We had a similar discussion on another occasion:
Archangel Michael: When you wish for inspiration, go quiet. Yes, you will hear the ringing again and again and again. And simply listen. And allow.
Steve: The ringing. Is it at base the Mother? Is it at base the universal creative vibration?
AAM: There are two ringings that you perceive, and one, yes, is the universe. And the universal tone, as it were. But there is a higher pitch that I tend to come in on. (11)
Well, I hear that ringing all the time. Does it mean Archangel Michael is there all the time? He responds:
Steve: How do I know when you are whispering in my ear?
Archangel Michael: Often it is prefaced by a high pitched ring.
Steve: Oh, I hear that all the time.
AAM: Yes, I know.
Steve: [laughing] Are you here all the time?
AAM: Yes, I am. (12)
More recently I asked him to confirm that the Mother was Aum:
Steve: I’ve read part of this quote to the Divine Mother. She’s verified it but I’ve added things to it. So I’d like to read it to you again and ask if it is correct.
Creation, preservation, transformation = rajas, sattwa, and thamas = Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva = Akar, Ukar & Makar of AUM.
AAM: That is quite the expression, Sweet One, and in that tradition and in that understanding, the answer is correct.
Steve: It is not even discussed in other traditions.
AAM: No, it is not. (13)
So if you’re hearing a ringing in your ears, fear not! You’re not losing your hearing, risking dementia, or going insane.
Either that’s the first audible resonance of the music of the spheres or else it’s your particular angel making his or her presence known.
According to the sages, hearing this is a great blessing and, if you focus on it in meditation, can be a path to union with the Divine.
Footnotes
(1) Paramahansa Yogananda, The Second Coming of Christ. Vol. 1. Dallas: Amrita Foundation, 1979, 22.
(2) Loc. cit.
(3) Ibid., 17. The Mother is the Holy Ghost – or Holy Spirit. “Spiritus” equals “breath.” Breath is composed of an inbreath, pause, and outbreath. These are equivalent to creation, preservation, and transformation – which are equivalent to the three gunas of rajas (creation, Brahma), sattwa (preservation, Vishnu) and thamas (transformation, Shiva).
Hindus equate this with Aum, which breaks down into Akar (inbreath, creation, rajas, Brahma), Ukar (pause, preservation, sattwa, Vishnu), and Makar (outbreath, transformation, thamas, Shiva). The equivalent for Western civilizations is the Amen, as in Jesus’ statement: “These things saith the Amen.”
(4) Ibid., 20-1.
(5) John 1:1-2. Solomon also knew it. He called the Holy Spirit “Wisdom:
“Doth not wisdom cry…
“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
“I was set up from everlasting [that is, before time], from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
“When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. …
“While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
“When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass on the face of the depth.
“When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep.
“When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth.
“Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. …
“Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.” (Proverbs, 8:1, 22-4, 26-30, and 32.) [My emphasis.]
(5) Ascended Master Hilarion, channelling through Mabel Collins, channel. Light on the Path and an Essay on Karma. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing 6ouse, 1974, 24-5.
(6) Annie Besant, The Ancient Wisdom. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972; c1897, 44.
(7) Swami Satyeswarananda Giri, Lahiri Mahasay. The Father of Kriya Yoga. San Diego: Sanskrit Classics, 1983, 2.
(8) Swami Brahmananda in Swami Prabhavananda, The Eternal Companion. Brahmananda. Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1970; c1944, 1895
(9) “The Divine Mother, Aum, and Love,”
(10) Archangel Michael in a personal reading with Steve Beckow through Linda Dillon, Oct. 11, 2013.
(11) Ibid., Feb. 18, 2011.
(12) Loc. cit.