The still voice

The still voice; is the unvoiced intelligence that arises from within. Although unvoiced it has the clarity of early morning sunlight that dispels the gloom after darkness. It is the same clarity and perception that has given rise to life, but which has become largely obscured due to the activities of private purpose and self-interest. The still voice, is Divine in origin, as from it has arisen a body of truth that forms the inner template that structures and gives form to life.

Nada Yoga, the Yoga of Listening, is a conscious process of separating the illusory from the real, as most of us carry around with us a great deal of unnecessary mental baggage, in the form of unexamined information that has no basis in reality. In order to wipe the slate clean, we have to practise returning to centre, clearing the mind and dropping unwanted thoughts.

With a still mind we gain a clear sense of direction, as by reducing the number of targets to be aimed at we have a better sense of direction. When meditating, let your thoughts drop away like the leaves from a tree at the start of winter. Then with a clear mind start to awaken the intuitional mind, that is the mind of the heart. Feel for the new emerging thoughts that emerge like fresh shoots in spring time. It is a case of off with the old and on with the new, as your inner Tree of Life is refreshed and clothed with the light of truth and a new spirit of optimism.

The Tree of Life has been portrayed as a Symbolic Ash Tree that has its roots in heaven and its branches on earth. This transformation, in which your whole being is nurtured and transformed by the light of the eternal, is one of the highest aims of yoga. In reality there are many steps which ‘Patanjali’ has codified in his ‘Eight limbs of Raja Yoga’. None of these steps are separate from each other as they all flow together in the unifying stream of life.

Each step will be affirmed during meditation, by your still inner voice. This is the guru which resides in your true centre, and which is often obscured by mental clutter. Hence we have the following, taken from page one of Patanjali’s aphorisms of yoga; 1. We now begin the exposition of yoga. 2. Yoga is controlling the activities of mind (chitta). 3. When the mind is controlled, Self stays in his native condition. Translation, Shree Purohit Swami. Published Faber and Faber Ltd.