Language Expression Equals Consciousness Expression

‘Where there is no equivalent in language there is for mankind no equivalent in consciousness’.

Human consciousness understands and expresses only that which it knows; it lives and manifests according to that which is familiar. The ideas and experiences gained over time are perfectly encapsulated in what we call our language. The range of vocabulary and the manner in which we express ourselves as a race are direct reflections of what we know about the universe so far and what we have come to understand about ourselves. This knowledge is ever limited to the stage we have reached on the long evolutionary cycle.

The discoveries in the realm of consciousness which we are all experiencing in varying degrees are regulated under universal law by a long series of expansions in consciousness. From the cave man experience to the present state in which we find ourselves, we know instinctively (or should I say, intuitively) the enormous range of expansions we have experienced over time, and that with each expansion we gained something new, something which at first appeared strange, until we brought it into the known. We bring the unknown into the known by creating new words to describe the experience, new words which become part of our vocabulary, and therefore, a part of our sum total of experience.

Consider for a moment the new words we are now creating in relation to our experiences in the field of technology. Our concept of time, for example, is quite different now to what it was a few decades ago. The computer age, as it continues to grow more powerful, is shifting the way we think and feel, and in particular, our experience of time. Life appears to be speeding up considerably and there is so much more occurring within a single second than ever before. We may not be fully aware of the distinct shifts that are shaping the quality of our consciousness, but they are occurring. The technological age is an experience of expansion for mankind and is having a fundamental effect on our collective point of view.

For many people language is seen as a mode of communication, and a very necessary expedient in the round of daily living, and of course, it is, but in truth it is far more than this. Before speech occurs on the tongue, sound must first register in the mind; the sound then manifests as an idea in the mind and the inner ear hears it when consciousness becomes attentive to what is occurring in the mind. Before the sound manifests in mind as an idea, it exists as sphota in a realm beyond mind. It is here, within this higher perceptual space, where all sphotas abound, many of which we have not yet experienced. Every sound in the universe is causal at its source. All sound is held on causal levels as a sphota (स्फोट) of knowledge before it manifests as an idea in mind and as speech in the vernacular.

Sphota (स्फोट) is a word in Sanskrit which explains the eternal and imperceptible element of sound; its essential significance becomes an idea which bursts or flashes in the realm of mind when the sound is registered by consciousness. Think on it. It is said that the entire universe is built upon sound: ‘In the beginning was the word and the word was God . . . ‘ as proffered in ancient teachings and given to mankind for his enlightenment. We speak and we create with our words, but it is the quality of the speech which dictates the power of the word.

It is truly a wonderful world in which we live (though it may not appear so under present world conditions) and the possibilities for expansion and growth in consciousness are ever available. On the surface we are experiencing many challenges to our collective harmony and there are so many ongoing conflicts that require solutions; we are fearful of a repeat of the appalling conditions experienced during the two great world wars. But there are many in the world today who are beginning to experience new realms of thought; consciousness is expanding and they are sensing sonething new. Perhaps they are registering untouched sphotas for which there are as yet no new words. For those who are not yet in touch with these expansions (and there are many who aren’t) it is simply a matter of time before they do, for always, there are those who transit more quickly out of the old into the new and become beacons of light for others to follow.

Perhaps the key to the next expansion lies in our growing ability to look behind the scenes, as it were, so that we may intuit the newly emerging sounds as they seek to find resonance in the minds of men and women everywhere. We may ask: What indeed is the underlying sound that is seeking expression through humanity at this point, and how may we contact and express it more fully?

That which stands in patient silence behind the ageing and outdated patterns of physical, emotional and mental plane activity, is the new paradigm; it holds in its steadily emerging sound, that which is new, true and transformative, and is the means of further expansion in our collective consciousness.

Let us hear this sound and begin to dance with it