Hearing Without Ears

While shabda is usually translated "sound", a more accurate translation would probably be " meaning". It's meaning, not sound waves, that the sage Kapila meant is transmitted through the medium of akasha, 

or space.

" What do you mean?" you're probably asking.

Suppose I'm standing near you, and suddenly I fall. I shout, " Help! I'm in trouble!" My message is transmitted to you through the medium of the air in the form of a series of sounds which everyone who speaks English agrees mean, " Linda fell down. Go help her up".

I'm at work, and you're at home. Suddenly I fall. I cry out, " Help! I'm in trouble!" There's no way you can hear me from miles away, yet you distinctly hear my voice in your inner ear calling, " Help!" This phenomenon, called clairaudience, is said by most Western scientists to be impossible. Hindus, raised on yogic science, know that in the real world this kind of thing happens all the time. The meaning in my mind was transmitted to your mind through a more subtle medium than air. It came through " space" or "ether" as it's sometimes called, a super-fine form of matter.

Let's ratchet the process up a notch. I'm at work and I fall. You don't hear any words in your mind. Yet somehow suddenly you absolutely know that I've fallen and hurt myself. This phenomenon is now called telepathy. It involves the third level of sound, called pashyanti, and engages the intuitive powers of your higher mind. How many new mothers just " know" what's happening with their infant even if they're miles apart ? How many times have you heard of mothers who "knew" their son was injured the very moment he was shot on the battlefield?

Hindu yogis would say the "information" about your offspring is being "transmitted" through akasha, the material of which "space" is made. Our thoughts are continually "broadcasting" from our minds like radio  towers. But most people don't have their " receivers" on and don't hear our thoughts (thank God). Those of us  who've spent time with highly trained yogis often have the disconcerting experience that they read our minds like newspapers. Their channel blockers are down, and thy're picking up everything that's coming out of our mouths-and out of our minds!

What about para vak, the highest level of sound or meaning ? In deep meditation, we contact the "ideas" or archetypal patterns around which the physical and subtle worlds are framed. They exist eternally in Brahman, the Supreme Reality. " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God". This profound understanding lies at the root of many ancient metaphysical traditions.