Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
27 December 2018
Music
“Sound”
Music is sound which is either pleasant or unpleasant to humans. Music is played as solo, a couple, a group, as orchestra or as symphony. Music is played by a single instrument or by various instruments.
Similarly, there are various types of music such as pop, soul, rap, reggae, rock, jazz, hard rock, opera and classical. In any type of music man is not separate from either the music or the instrument playing the music.
Music is nevertheless only sound whether it is vocal or instrumental. Therefore, it is sound that is either pleasant or unpleasant to humans. Musical instruments are made from matter, which is from the earth.
Man too is from earth because every element in man is found in earth.
Sound is everywhere in nature. This signifies that neither sound is separate from nature nor is man separate from nature, because sound that is uttered through man appears as words to the human mind in nature.
Sounds that are in nature are pleasant or unpleasant to the human mind. Similarly, some sound uttered by nature through man as words is either pleasant or unpleasant to the human mind.
This signifies that man is a natural, musical instrument in nature.
Every moment in nature is precise and every sound, which is in the moment in nature, is precise as well. The sound, which is in the moment, cannot be another sound beside the sound that is within any moment in nature.
This implies that, as man is part of nature, the sound that comes out of man in any moment is precise and cannot be another sound beside the sound that comes out of man in any moment.
This also implies that, as man is part of nature, the sound that comes out of man in any moment as a word is precise and cannot be another word beside the word that comes out of man in any moment.
The enlightened accept the sound that is in nature and do not expect the sound to be any other than the sound which is in the moment. Similarly, the enlightened accept the sound that comes out of man as music and do not expect the sound to be any other than the sound which is in the moment.
The enlightened accept the music played by nature through the natural, musical instrument, which is man in any moment. The enlightened have proclaimed that life is a play of light and sound. This implies that words in daily life are a play of sound in light.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2018
Editor’s Note:
Son et lumiere, to borrow a French expression, is a beautiful acknowledgement of the essence of this article. This play of sound and light has drawn populations of men and women together for many generations in a natural unity of wonder and harmony. Neither adult nor child can resist expressing music in their own style or type for, as beautifully described by the wise in this article and elsewhere, it is an expression of their own essence. In their declaration of the place of sound in nature, be it through music or words, the enlightened accept it as it is with its precision in every moment. Understanding this releases the mind of man from division and separation.
Julian Capper, UK
German Translator’s Note:
That music is sound is easy for everyone to understand. To understand words that are uttered by humans as sounds, also makes sense. But to fathom the deep implications of this everyday insight and to explain it in an understandable way only happens to the enlightened, as here in Dr. Shankar's article. Wisdom is always easy to observe in everyday life; however, to understand it deeply is not yet commonplace for the vast majority of people. Therefore, accurate reading and repeated consideration of these articles is essential for deep understanding of wisdom to take place.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.