Sound of the Self

Sri Annamalai Swami

Q: Bhagavan once remarked, 'What is the value of knowing God if we don't know the name of our own "I"? He also spoke about the 'I-I' vibration, saying that it was an emanation of the Self. When Bhagavan spoke of 'I-I', did he mean that it was shabd nadi, a subtle sound, or is it merely the feeling of 'I-I'?

AS: They both indicate and mean the Self.

Q: Is the sound also the Self?

AS: The sound is happening in the Self.

Q: Is it the same as the Self, or is it the reflection?

AS: It is also a part of the Self.

Q: So is it like the white color of milk - inseparable from the milk?

AS: Yes.

Q: I am asking this because I hear the sound all the time, but I don't know if I feel the I-I in the Heart. There is a feeling that I ought to be going deeper, so I ask myself, 'What is the feeling of the sound?' Is this a good practice?

AS: Let me give you an example. The fan over our heads is spinning around. A stream of cool air is coming from it but we also hear the noise of the motor. Both perceptions originate from the working of the fan. It is the same with the Self. The soundless sound of the Self goes on all the time by itself. It doesn't make a sound; it is the subtle sound. If you tune into this sound - you can't actually listen because it is not a physical noise - that tuning in will lead you to the peace of the Self. That peace is prior to and beyond this very subtle pulsation. When you reach that final peace, that ultimate stillness, the sound will disappear in the Self. In that final place there is no sound, there is only peace, somewhat like the peaceful awareness remains there. It is not an unconscious state.

Most people cannot hear or be aware of the subtle inner vibration because it is drowned out by the physical noise of the outer world and by the persistent mental noise of the mind. The only people who can hear this sound are those in whom thoughts have mostly disappeared. One needs to be in a deep level of mental peace in order to be aware of this sound.

This subtle vibration is resonating all the time in all people, but virtually no one hears it because preoccupation with thoughts covers it up. Bhagavan was not the first teacher to talk about this subtle sound. Hima
leka, for example, mentioned it in Tripura Rahasya, so this inner sound is not something newly discovered. Close your mental and physical ears and you will hear this vibration resonating all the time.