The Living Universe - Duane Elgin [42]
All of the world’s wisdom traditions point to the presence of a clear light infusing the universe that, although subtle and difficult to discern, is glowing with aliveness. The clear light of the Mother Universe is an ocean of intelligent luminosity that is not “in-visible” but “trans-visible” because it is far more than simple nothingness. The light of the Mother Universe is clear because it is unlimited and unbounded—and therefore completely lacking in obstruction. Because this clear light is the source and foundation of everything in our universe, it cannot be limited within the confines of our contracted world and so presents itself as transparent. Despite its transparent nature, this luminous and living presence has been recognized, tasted, and celebrated by sages throughout history.
A Body of Music
The universe is a single, extraordinarily complex, pattern of resonance. The world looks solid and concrete but upon close inspection solidity breaks down, and material reality becomes a vast ocean of vibrations, frequencies, and harmonies that converge, moment by moment, to produce the stable reality around us. Everything that exists—from atoms to humans to galaxies—has its “song-line” or unique orchestration that contributes to the whole. We are made from music. To say we are a body of music isn’t just poetic; it is also true.
Physicists are now exploring the foundations of physical reality with what is called string theory. Despite its shortcomings, it is giving us a new way to picture matter. In this theory, matter is no longer seen as tiny, solid points or particles; instead, the particle nature of matter gives way to unimaginably small, vibrating loops of non-material strings. These loops of energy vibrate like violin strings and different vibrations are thought to generate different patterns that manifest as unique energy-particles.
Given that resonance and vibration are fundamental to the universe, it is understandable that we would each embody a unique hum of being that is recognizable to others as they experience the feeling-tone of our soul. Different temperaments and personalities naturally express a unique symphony of knowing-resonance.
Returning to the cosmic scale, many spiritual traditions portray our universe as being sung into existence. In the Bible, we read “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself” (John 1:1). It has been suggested that the Word is the vast primal sound of creation itself.
From the Islamic tradition, the Sufi poet Kabir who lived in India (1398—1448) spoke of the music of creation in his ecstatic poem “Sound”:12
The flute of interior time is played whether we hear it or not,
What we mean by “love” is its sound coming in.
When love hits the farthest edge of excess, it reaches a wisdom.
And the fragrance of that knowledge!
It penetrates our thick bodies,
It goes through walls—
Its network of notes has a structure as if a million suns were
arranged inside.
This tune has truth in it.
Where else have you heard a sound like this?
The ancient Hindu Vedas (scriptures) tell us that in the beginning was Brahman, the Absolute reality. Brahman is often portrayed as the great sound that gives birth to entire universes. Here music is viewed as the divine thread that connects the individual soul with the Supreme Soul of the universe. Brahman manifests everything in the universe as vibrations, from the smallest to the largest. Physical forms are thus sound forms. Music can help us to spiritually awaken to the resonant soul of the universe. For many Hindus, the primal sound of creation—the “sound body” of Brahman—is embodied in the word OM, the sacred sound of the Mother Universe that evokes her core qualities.
Chinese Taoist stories speak of the “Great Tone of Nature” and, in Indigenous cultures, the combination of chanting,